Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 113 


Series L, Quality of Water, 8 


T D 

S39 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Director 


THE DISPOSAL OF 


AND OIL-WELL WASTES 


ROBERT LEMUEL SACKETT 


ISAIAH BOWMAN 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1905 



\ 



OFFICIAL DONATION• 














Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 113 


Series L, Quality of Water, 8 




DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Director 


Sid 


THE DISPOSAL OF 

STRAWBOARD AND OIL-WELL WASTES 

BY 


ROBERT LEMUEL SACKETT 

n 

AND 

ISAIAH BOWMAN 

t 



WASHINGTON 
government printing 
190 5 


OFFICE 









MAR 29 1905 

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CONTENTS 








Letter of transmittal 


Page. 

7 


Strawboard Waste: Its Damage to Water Resources and its 
Economic Disposal, by R. L. Sackett. 

Introduction.. 

Sources and effects of stream pollution. 

Sewage pollution. 

Pollution by trade waste. 

Manufacture of strawboard. 

Composition of straw. 

Steaming in rotaries. 

Washing. 

Prying. 

Methods of disposal of waste. 

Experiments on disposal of waste. 

Methods of purification.. 

Sedimentation. 

Filtration. 

Chemical precipitation. 

Coagulants used.:. 

Alum.;. 

Sulphate of iron. 

Lime.. 

Carbon dioxide „. 

' Carbon dioxide and milk of lime... 

Experiment station. . 

Description of experiments... 

Single-barrel test. 

Ten-barrel test... 

Discussion of tests. 

Mixing apparatus.... 

Production of carbon dioxide. 

Treatment of sludge. 

- Conclusions. 

Supplementary note. 


9 


9 

9 

10 

11 

11 

13 

14 

14 

15 
18 
19 
19 

19 

20 
21 
21 
21 
22 
22 

23 

24 

25 
25 
27 
29 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 


Disposal of Oil-well Wastes at Marion, Ind., by Isaiah Bowman. 


Introduction.—.... 36 

Topography and drainage of the region. 36 

Geologic features. 37 

Pleistocene deposits. 37 

Hard rock formations. 41 

Niagara limestone. 41 

Hudson River limestone and Utica shale. 42 

Trenton limestone. 42 

Sources of contamination. 43 

Supplementary note, by Marshall Ora Leighton. 49 


Index 


51 


3 

















































* 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

Plate I. A, Strawboard rotaries; B, Rotaries and stock piles. 12 

^ II. A, Pulp washers; B, Settling basins. 14 

^ III. Settling basins and filter beds. 16 

* ,/ IV. Receiving tank with discharge pipes. 44 

Fig. 1. Plan of strawboard settling basin. 17 

2. Carbon-dioxide distributor... 24 

3. Milk-of-lime distributor. 24 

4. Map of Marion, Ind .. 39 


5 



















LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 


Department of the Interior, 

United States Geological Survey, 
Washington, D. C., January <27, 190If,. 

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith two manuscripts, the 
first entitled ‘‘Strawboard Waste: Its Damage to Water Resources 
and its Economic Disposal,” by R. L. Sackett; the second, “ Disposal 
of Oil-Well Wastes at Marion, Ind.,” by Isaiah Bowman, and to 
request that they be published together as one of the series of Water- 
Supply and Irrigation Papers. 

These papers include a part of the results of investigations made by 
the division of hydro-economics. The determination of the quality of 
available waters in the United States and their applicability to domes¬ 
tic and industrial uses involves a consideration of the principal sources 
of their pollution. 

The subjects dealt with in these papers represent two particularly 
troublesome sources of damage to water resources. The areas in 
which such damage occurs are very large and important, pollution of 
the kind considered in the first paper covering the States of Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois, and that discussed in the second paper, having 
been felt in all those parts of the country in which oil wells have been 
developed. 

These investigations were undertaken in an experimental way, and 
it is hoped that they may serve to direct wider attention to the prob¬ 
lems involved, to the end that practical solutions may be reached 
which will be satisfactory to all those whose interests are involved. 

Very respectfully, 

F. H. Newell, 

Chief Engineer. 

Hon. Charles D. Walcott, 

Director United States Geological Survey. 


7 











STRAWBOARD WASTE: ITS DAMAGE TO WATER 
RESOURCES AND ITS ECONOMIC DISPOSAL. 


Ity Robert Lemuel Sackett. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Rivers and streams have a commercial value by which they have 
been universally rated, yet in many cases this rating must properly 
take into account more than strictly commercial or industrial uses. 
Water power or shipping facilities have often determined the location 
of a mill where a city was unforeseen, and the value of the stream as a 
source of water supply for culinaiy or drinking purposes has thus 
often been left entirely out of consideration. But watercourses con¬ 
tribute not only to the commercial value of a location, but to health, 
and their influence on health has now become an important factor in 
determining the money value of the lands bordered by them. Health 
and wealth are in some localities dependent on the condition and flow 
of streams. 

All sanitary authorities now recognize the vital necessity of provid¬ 
ing a pure source of municipal or private water supply. Family wells 
and springs can safely serve but a small proportion of the population. 
The urban population is now about 50 per cent of the total, and as it 
grows the percentage dependent on municipal supply will increase. 
It is to this class of water supplies that this discussion is confined. 

SOURCES AND EFFECTS OF STREAM POEEUTION. 

SEWAGE POLLUTION. 

As the wilderness was subdued by the pioneer, small mills and towns 
were established on lakes, rivers, and streams. By cutting the forests 
and draining the cultivated and settled areas the character of the 
stream flow was changed. Forests are natural reservoirs, where the 
rainfall is stored, to be given up gradually. Cultivation and drainage 
aid in producing a rush of water to the streams after rains, which is 
followed by a period of very low flow in a dry season. The villages 
in time become cities, drawing their water supply from, and discharg¬ 
ing their sewage into, the near-by stream. This source of pollution, 
in connection with the occasional very low stream flow and consequent 
slight dilution, has been the cause of great commercial loss, of wide¬ 
spread disease, and of death. 

irr 113 — 05—2 




10 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[no. 113 . 


POLLUTION BY TRADE WASTE. 

But city sewage is not the only source of stream pollution, for many 
industries discharge large quantities of refuse, called ‘‘trade waste,” 
the presence of which in sewers and streams is very objectionable 
from a sanitary point of view. 

On the continent of Europe and in Great Britain this subject has 
received considerable attention. The English rivers pollution act of 
1876 treats the matter at considerable length, and gives city authori¬ 
ties power to require the adoption of remedial measures by offending 
factories. In the United States the necessity for legislation restricting 
pollution by trade waste has only recently arisen. Among the States 
that have already acted upon this question Massachusetts stands first. 

The waste from industries is divisible into three classes—animal, 
vegetable, and mineral refuse, though many factories discharge two 
and even all three kinds. 

In the first class of waste is included that from abattoirs, packing 
houses, tanneries, and woolen mills, which discharge large quantities 
of animal tissue and oil. The decomposition of this matter may be 
slow, and if deposited on flats it causes unpleasant odors and attracts 
vermin. If afloat in such quantities that the dilution is not sufficient, 
the water is dangerous for house use, and even cattle refuse to drink it. 

To the second class belong the quantities of vegetable matter which 
escape from distilleries and from paper, wood-pulp, and strawboard 
mills—matter for which no present economical use has been found. 

To the third class belong the wastes from oil refineries and gas 
works, which run off mineral oils and heavy tars. When discharged 
into city sewers these have proved very objectionable, and when dis¬ 
charged into sluggish streams they lodge on shoals and flats with the 
rise and fall of the water level, coating and killing vegetation, causing 
unpleasant odors, and fouling the water for dairying and other pur¬ 
poses. Tin-plate and rod mills and galvanizing and plating works dis¬ 
charge large quantities of chemical waste, such as dilute sulphuric or 
hydrochloric acid, copper sulphate, and sulphate and chloride of iron. 

Among other local industries that produce serious nuisance in their 
vicinity^ are soap factories, factories using the Solvay ammonia soda 
process, and white lead, paint, varnish, and starch factories. Certain 
mineral waters used for curative and bathing purposes and the drainage 
from mines may also be offensive, but these are not usually amenable 
to pollution laws. In England they are specifically excluded in the 
rivers pollution act of 1876. In Pennsylvania the higher courts have 
passed upon a case involving mine drainage, and the operators were 
allowed to continue the natural drainage of the mine. 

The effect of wastes upon the condition of the stream depends on the 
relative volumes of stream and of waste, the strength and character 
of the polluting material, and the proximity of other industries or of 


SACKETT.] 


MANUFACTURE OF STRAWBOARD. 


11 


cities requiring pure water and of agricultural lands and residents 
who might declare a nuisance. It is clear, then, that no general rules 
can be laid down, but that each case of pollution must be decided on 
its own merits. 

The addition of quantities of organic matter to a stream is highly 
objectionable, as it furnishes food for the rapid multiplication of dis¬ 
ease bacteria which may be present, and it may cause a nuisance by 
slow decomposition by deposit upon shoals, tidal shores, and flats. 
Besides rendering the water impotable, abnormal amounts of organic 
matter cause serious damage to many purifying industries, to sugar 
factories, meat-packing houses, and canneries. The discharge of min¬ 
eral waste, unless very highly diluted, hinders the natural purification 
of the stream, and adds substances that oxidize slowly. This waste 
kills fish and makes the water distasteful, foul smelling, and dangerous 
even, to cattle, thus interfering with important agricultural interests 
and increasing the menace to human life. 

MANUFACTURE OF STRAWBOARD. 

This report is confined to a careful study of the process of manufac¬ 
ture of strawboard (or pasteboard, as it is commonly called), to the 
character of the refuse, the nature of the pollution, the damage pro¬ 
duced, and the possible means of preventing the pollution. 

The principal factories of strawboard in the United States are con¬ 
fined to a comparatively small area. In the report of the United States 
census for 1900 59 factories are recorded as making strawboard. 
From 157,534 tons of raw material they produced a finished product 
valued at $3,187,342. Indiana led with 70,081 tons of board, worth 
$1,350,636. Ohio ranks second, with 40,531 tons, worth $800,038, and 
Illinois is third, with 20,100 tons, valued at $382,454. New York, 
Maryland, and Michigan rank next in order. The first three mentioned 
make 83 per cent of the board produced in the United States, and 
Indiana alone produces nearly 50 per cent of the total. The straw 
used in Indiana cost about $3.90 per ton, and the finished product was 
worth about $19 per ton. 

The strawboard industry does not, of course, include the manufac¬ 
ture of wood pulp, sulphite fiber, or jute. 

COMPOSITION OF STRAW. 

Strawboard is manufactured from rye, wheat, and oat straw. In 
England a special stra\v T , known as esparto grass, is used in making 
paper. Rye and wheat straws are preferred, as they yield the largest 
per cent of cellulose—the basis of all vegetable fiber. The chemical 
formula for cellulose is n(C 6 H 10 O 5 ). The composition of various straws 
as given by Muller, a a German authority, is as follows: 


aJour. Soc. Chemical Industry, February 28, 1894, p. 101. 




12 


STRAW BOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


Table 1. —Composition of straivs. 


Winter 

rye. 

• 

Winter I 
wheat. 

Summer 

barley. 

Winter 

barley. 

Oats. 


Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Water. 

. 14.3 

14.3 

14.3 

14.3 

14.3 

Organic constituents. 

.| 82.5 

80.2 

79.7 

80.2 

80. 7 

\ isih - . _ 

. 3.2 

5.5 


5.5 

5.0 

Cellulose. 

.! 54. 0 

48.0 

43.0 

48.4 

40.0 


James Beveredge, of Northflect Paper Mills, Kent, England, gives" 
the following results of analyses of straws: 

Table 2. —Composition of straws. 



Zealand 

wheat. 

Dutch 

wheat. 

Dutch 

oats. 

Dutch 

rye. 

Dutch 

barley. 


Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Per cent. 

Water. 

.8.2 

12.5 

11.2 

7.8 

11.0 

Organic constituents. 

44.2 

43.6 

46.0 

49.3 

47.7 

Ash. 

10.0 

7.5 

5.5 

1.8 

7.2 

Cellulose. 

37.6 

36.4 

37.3 

41.3 

34.1 


In table 1 the organic constituents include cellulose; in table 2 they 
do not. In the latter the cellulose is unbleached. 

Remsen gives the following percentages of cellulose, the straws being 
in the air-dry state. Rye straw, 54; wheat straw, 48; oat straw, 40. 
The differences appearing in the above tables are due to differences in 
the definition of cellulose, in the dryness of the materials, and in the 
various methods of separation employed. The order of the commer¬ 
cial rating of straws, as given by the strawboard companies, is as 
follows: (1) rye, (2) winter wheat, (3) spring wheat, and (4) oat. There 
is generally reckoned a loss of about 40 per cent by weight from the 
dry straw to the finished board, the latter containing from 5 to 8 per 
cent of moisture. Various factors enter into the percentage of loss. 
Straw purchased at harvest time contains a larger percentage of mois¬ 
ture than it contains some months later. The loss of weight from 
harvest to Christmas time amounts to almost 25 per cent, says an 
authority in the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry.* Straw 
grown on light, sandy soils has a much lower specific gravity than that 
grown on heavy clay or mixed soils. Differences are also caused by 
weather conditions at harvest time. A wet straw causes greater loss 


a Jour. Soc. Chemical Industry, February 28,1894, p. 101. 
b For February 28, 1901, p. 148. 


































U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 113 PL. I 




B. ROTARIES AND STOCK PILES, 






































































8ACKETT.] 


MANUFACTURE OF STRAWBOARD. 


13 


and makes a poorer quality of board. The driest material comes from 
that in the lofts of barns, while straw from stacks is usually damp. 
It is stated that baled straw is more moist than loose straw. 

Of the 48 per cent of cellulose in wheat straw, about 30 per cent is 
saved by present means of manufacture of strawboard. The machinery 
and methods employed have not changed materially for many years, 
and there seems to be little prospect of greater economy being prac¬ 
ticed. The reasons for this are discussed later in this paper. 

STEAMING IN ROTARIES. 

The process employed in the United States is as follows: 

The straw is first subjected to a cooking process by steam and lime. 
A large ellipsoidal rotating steel boiler called a “ rotary,” shown in 
PI. I, A, is filled with straw, which is then cooked down with steam, 
then again filled and cooked down until the rotary boiler has been 
completely filled. The process of filling a rotary occupies from six to 
twelve hours. The final charge consists of about 6 tons of straw and 
30 bushels, or 2,100 pounds, of lime in the form of milk. This mixture 
is then rotated and cooked under 40 pounds of steam pressure for twelve 
hours. PI. I, A, shows the steam line extending through one of the 
trunnions and the worm gear which rotates the cylinder. This appar¬ 
ently severe chemical and mechanical action results in a rapid soften¬ 
ing of the woody' fiber and in the reduction of the straw to a dark- 
yellow, pulpy mass. This “stock,” as it is called, is stacked in piles 
10 to 15 feet high to drain. Concerning the action which takes place 
in the rotaries, the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry says: a 

The chemical action of the milk of lime on the encrusting materials surrounding 
the straw fiber is not a vigorous one. These encrusting materials are not completely, 
nor indeed to a great extent, separated from the cellulose. The mineral matter 
remains in the product practically untouched, and if any less quantity than that 
corresponding to the percentage in the original straw operated upon exists in the 
prepared pulp, it is due rather to the washing after digestion than to any solvent 
action of the milk of lime. Milk of lime under certain conditions has a bleaching 
action upon the straw. It neutralizes the organic acids usually found when fibrous 
plants are heated for any length of time in the presence of water. 

The yield of pulp at this point will be from 75 to 80 per cent of the 
weight of the original material. 

PI. I, B , shows the rotaries, charged from the floor above, and the 
elevators that carry the stock from the rotaries and dump it in the 
piles shown in the foreground. At the extreme left is an endless-chain 
elevator which carries the stock to the beater room. 

The material is allowed to stand in these piles for twenty-four hours 
or more to drain. After it is thus drained it contains about 50 per cent 
of water and from 6 to 7 per cent of lime. This is equivalent to from 
12 to 14 per cent of lime in the dry straw. Since the original charge 


a For February 28,1894, p. 101. 





14 


STRAWROARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


of lime and straw was in the proportion of 2,100 pounds of lime to 
14,100 pounds of straw and lime, or about 14 per cent lime, practically 
none of the latter has drained out with the condensed steam. This 
drainage from the stock piles forms but a small part of the waste 
sewage. It is straw colored and very turbid, carrying a small quan¬ 
tity of fiber broken fine in the rotaries. 

WASHING. 

This process is much more drastic, and it is here that the great 
volume of waste is produced. 

The stock is run through washing machines for the purpose of 
removing the lime. A row of washers in operation is shown in PL II, A. 
At the left is the chute from the conveyor above, down which the stock 
is fed. To the right of the chute are the water pipes. The washing 
machine consists of an oval channel about 3 feet wide, around which 
the stock travels, being supplied with copious volumes of water. Across 
this channel is placed a cylinder, 42 inches in diameter and 42 inches 
long, having longitudinal ribs or flanges about three-fourths of an inch 
square in section and three-fourths of an inch apart. Meshing with 
this, like the teeth of geared wheels, is an idler, below, of similar size 
and form. These wheels, revolving, lift the water and straw to a level 
several inches higher than that in the oval channel, whence it flows by 
gravity halfway around its course to a point where it meets a revolv¬ 
ing brass screen of fine mesh, through which a part of the water escapes, 
carrying with it the finer particles of fiber and free lime. The remaining 
straw, with additional volumes of fresh water, now passes many times 
through the rolls, which further mash and break the fiber, and around to 
the screen, where more straw, lime, and water escape. The total waste 
is enormous. It now takes about 40,000 gallons of water to wash 1 ton 
of straw. About 3,200 pounds of straw and 560 pounds of lime are 
required to make 2,000 pounds of board. A small amount of lime 
remains in the board; hence 1,200 pounds of straw and about 500pounds 
of lime are washed out by the 40,000 gallons of water. An idea of the 
volume of waste may be conveyed by giving the capacity of an average 
mill. Such a plant uses 50 tons of straw and nearly 10 tons of lime 
during every twent}^-four hours. From 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 gallons 
of water are employed in the rotaries, washers, and vats. This volume 
of water carries away with it about 19 tons of the straw and practi¬ 
cally all of the 10 tons of lime each twenty-four hours. 

DRYING. 

After the washing process the straw, with a considerable volume of 
water, is led to a train of rolls, consisting of three parts—first, the 
wet end; second, the hot rolls; third, the trimming and cutting 
machine. As it comes from the washers the material is run into vats, 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 113 PL. II 




‘ L T 

|lv . . w .T ■■w' M i , — . 

V 1 - *| 



JR 




1 

Tj 

t 





FT 



[ y 














A. PULP WASHERS. 



B. SETTLING BASINS 





























SACKETT.] 


DISPOSAL OF WASTE. 


15 


where it is mixed with large quantities of water and passed over 
hollow cylinders having line wire-cloth faces, which allow the water 
to escape, leaving the liber on the surface of the cylinder. The liber 
is then taken by woolen felts, which are pressed down on the surface 
of the cylinder. This makes a web of paper on the felt. The pulp, 
which is now about one-third straw and two-thirds water, travels up 
and down, over and under a double train of hot rolls, heated by steam 
that is carried in through hollow bearings. As the pulp passes on 
through the train it is constantly pressed and dried, until finally it is 
separated from its cloth support and goes to the trimming machine, 
where it is cut into sheets of proper size. It now contains about 10 
per cent of water and a small quantity of lime. The board is manu¬ 
factured in many thicknesses and weights. Just before it is trimmed 
it ma} r be coated on one or both sides with a thin paper facing or 
finish. 

METHODS OF DISPOSAE OF WASTE. 

The waste liquors from the rotaries and washers, and that from the 
vats where it is not used over again in the washers, are run together 
and discharged into a trough or ditch, leading in some cases to a neigh¬ 
boring stream. The effect of these wastes upon the stream depends 
upon its character and volume. As many Indiana rivers flow over 
limestone beds, their water is hard, carrying 15 to 20 grains of lime 
per gallon. But the waste liquor from a strawboard mill contained in 
one case a minimum of 66 grains per gallon (an amount which has 
recently been doubled by a decrease in the quantity of water used), 
and in some cases, where wash water is not plentiful, the quantity of 
lime reaches 200 or more grains per gallon. In order to reduce the 
quantity of lime to 40 grains per gallon the minimum stream flow 
would need to be about ten times the volume of water employed 
in the process. This would require a stream that discharged, in time 
of drought, from 10 to 20 million gallons in twenty-four hours. This 
limits the number of streams upon which such mills can be operated 
in the present manner without nuisance, to a few rivers in each State. 

On account of the clearing of forests, artificial drainage, and irreg¬ 
ularities of rainfall the flow of Indiana tributaries becomes extremely 
low in the late summer and fall. Some, indeed, cease to be more than 
isolated ponds, the water seeping through the gravel beds. Under 
these circumstances, if not under normal conditions, the discharge of 
sludge into a stream produces results that demand very serious con¬ 
sideration. The straw waste, when deposited on flats from which the 
water has receded, decomposes very slowly, its decay being in part 
retarded by the presence of lime and silica. Remsen says that as 
much as 73 per cent of the ash of wheat straw is silica. As the analy¬ 
ses given in table 4 (p. 27) show, the quantity of ammonia present 


16 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


in the waste is very large, and this is undoubtedly the principal cause 
of the very slow decomposition. 

At some places the solid part of the waste has been heaped on large 
tracts of land. In these cases the stench produced has been carried 
by the wind for a considerable distance, causing a nuisance. 

Mr. Sweeney, commissioner for fisheries and game for Indiana, in 
his biennial report for 1901 and 1902, speaking of the conditions which 
tend to destroy fish, says, on page 11: 

Greater than all other artificial means is the pollution of our streams with the 
refuse from strawboard mills, oil wells, and pulp mills. This refuse covers the 
spawning beds and prevents the eggs from hatching, while it penetrates the gills of 
the living fish and kills or drives them from the streams. 

The quantity of lime would in some cases be such as to kill the fish 
if the straw did not. Game fish are not to be found in polluted waters. 
Thus the interests of the State enter into the question of stream pollu¬ 
tion bj r strawboard mills. 

In other cases the method of disposal has been modified by running 
the waste into a series of beds scooped out of a gravel bottom land. 
Here the straw and lime slowly settle, the water filtering through the 
subsoil and finding its way to the neighboring creek. But the great 
quantity of straw waste soon clogs such natural filters as have been 
tried. High water is depended on to wash the refuse out of the beds, 
whence it is deposited on other lands below; so that the method is 
only a makeshift. 

What a carefully constructed settling and filtering plant may accom¬ 
plish has not yet been determined. During the summer of 1903 the 
American Strawboard Company built at one of its factories a series 
of basins, shown in PI. II, B, PI. Ill, and fig. 1. Basins Nos. 1 to 5, 
fig. 1, average an acre each, while No. 6 is about 2 acres in area. 
Levees from 4 to 6 feet high were built, so that the basins could be 
filled to a depth of about 5 feet. From the old ditch which is shown 
in fig. 1 a spout was constructed to conduct the waste into basin No.'l. 
From this basin it flows diagonally to a weir at the opposite corner, 
where it enters basin No. 2. The flow is diagonally across each basin 
to the next in order through the series, to No. 5 or No. 6. From 
basin No. 5 a gate leads to filter No. 1, and from basin No. 6 a similar 
gate leads to filter No. 2. These filters have lines of 8-inch tile laid 25 
feet apart and covered with 2 feet of gravel. The underdrains lead 
to the open ditch between th6 two filters. Each basin has a gate lead¬ 
ing to the river, so that the waste can be run through any number of 
settling basins and then into the river or through the filters. The 
waste was turned into basin No. 1 in the early summer. When it had 
filled, the overflow ran into basin No. 2, and so on, basin No. 6 being 
filled in late summer. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 113 PL. Ill 



SETTLING BASINS AND FILTER BEDS. 















































. 





- 




























SACKETT.] 


DISPOSAL OF WASTE. 


17 


It seems inevitable that in time there will be a large deposit of straw 
and lime, which will have to be scraped off the basins and filters and 
carted away. Seepage through the walls and bottoms of the basins 
will decrease and the filters will clog until the efficiency has reached an 
unsatisfactory point. The period of time which will elapse before 



this condition arises and the effectiveness of months of sedimentation, 
with or without filtration, will not be known until a season has passed. 

At one of its plants the American Strawboard Company used a 
trough-shaped device for separating the fine straw from the waste 
wa ter. A vat 16 feet long was constructed, the end view of which 


irr 113—05-3 




















18 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


was practically an equilateral triangle. The waste as it came from 
one of the washers was discharged into this vat, so that the water 
started downward, then turned upward through a screen, leaving the 
straw to continue downward. The screens clogged in the course of 
time and had to be cleaned by hand. The vat held about 7,000 gallons 
and treated 70,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. 

As the waste passed from the washers to the vat the analysis was as 
indicated in the first column, and the analysis as the water came from 
the vat is recorded in the second column. 


Analyses of strawboard waste before and after passing from washers to vat. 
[In parts per 100,000.] 


■ ' 

Before. 

After. 

Suspended matter: 

Organic matter.'. 

565.7 

393.1 

188.6 

123.3 

Inorganic matter.... 

Total residue. 

958.8 

312.5 

Total solids: 

Organic matter.•_ . . 

1,294.5 

661.8 

528.5 

244.3 

Inorganic matter. 

Total residue. 

1,956.3 

772.8 

Calcium. 

510.5 

204.8 



It will be seen that the vat removes about 66 per cent of the sus¬ 
pended matter. The latter is, however, abnormally high, and the 
effluent still contains 312.5 parts per 100,000—five to ten times what 
it should before passing to a stream. Increasing the size of vat and 
decreasing the rate of flow, with some changes of design in order to 
emphasize the upward-flow principle, might lead to a design which 
would be sufficient where the stream flow and dilution were high. 

No bacterial treatment such as is employed in the purification of 
sewage will avail in this case, as the treatment with lime and steam 
in the rotaries destroys all the bacteria present. A considerable period 
must elapse for the cultivation of such organisms. 

EXPERIMENTS ON DISPOSAL OF WASTE. 

To determine the possibility of other and more efficient methods of 
disposal than those just outlined, the author was appointed to take 
charge of a series of experiments on strawboard waste and to report 
their results to the United States Geological Survey. His instructions 
were to study the process of manufacture, analyze the waste liquor, 
and find the efficiency and cost of various methods of disposal, in order 























SACKETT.] 


METHODS OF PURIFICATION. 


19 


that some recommendation might be made to the authorities or to the 
manufacturers when circumstances should demand a change in the 
method of disposal. 

The expense is a very important item, as it is easy to find a method 
of treatment by which the waste can be purified, but the cost would 
prevent the operation of the mill. Other methods will clarify the 
waste, but leave the water extremely hard, thus accomplishing but 
half the purpose. Theoretically, the liquid which eventually flows 
into the stream ought not to be harder than the normal stream—a con¬ 
dition extremely difficult to fulfill by commercial methods. Likewise, 
the total solids should not be above an average amount contained in 
natural waters. 

METHODS OF PURIFICATION. 

There are three general methods of treatment for the purification of 
polluted water—sedimentation, filtration, and chemical precipitation. 

SEDIMENTATION. 

This process consists of letting the liquid stand for a period of time 
long enough to allow the matter held in suspension to settle to the 
bottom. There is no chemical action involved, but since organic as 
well as inorganic matter may be settled, future chemical changes are 
possible. The hardness or acidity will not be changed. The rapidity 
and efficiency of the process depend on the specific gravity of the sus¬ 
pended matter. Silt will settle quickly, and this process is frequently 
used to remove such objectionable material from water supplies. 

In the case of strawboard wastes, the particles of straw are so fine 
and the specific gravity is so slightly above unity that the downward 
motion is very slow. A jar 10 inches high will settle about 10 per 
cent of its solid matter in twenty-four hours. In twenty-four hours 
more the change is very slight. At the end of twenty-four hours, 
color, turbidity, odor, and taste are about the same as before such 
treatment. The storage capacity required for twenty-four hours’ set¬ 
tling would be twice the capacity of the mill. To settle forty-eight 
hours reservoirs that would contain three times the volume of refuse 
would be required, and so on. From 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 gallons’ 
storage would be needed for such treatment. 

Even with still longer periods of sedimentation the hardness would 
remain practically unchanged, as the only lime precipitated would be 
due to the C0 2 absorbed from the atmosphere. 

FILTRATION. 

The process next to be described, and one now very frequently used 
in the purification of water supplies and of sewage, is filtration. The 
water is allowed to pass slowly through a bed of charcoal, coke, furnace 


20 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


slag, or sand. The process is partly a screening one, but under proper 
conditions a very efficient bacterial action takes place, in which the 
healthful bacteria assist in reducing the organic matter to its constit¬ 
uent elements. Bacillus coli-communis —the biological index of sew- 
age pollution—disappears, and not only suspended matter but the 
amount of chlorine is reduced, and the number of bacteria per cubic 
centimeter is decreased by from 95 to 99 per cent of, the number 
present in untreated water. 

There are two kinds of filters, mechanical and slow sand filters. In 
the former the rate of flow is higher and frequent cleansing is neces¬ 
sary, while in the sand bed the rate of filtration is much less and the 
filter purifies itself in part while resting or while in action. If the 
surface becomes clogged, occasional rakings are necessary in order to 
remove the clogged surface and restore it to its normal state. 

CHEMICAL PRECIPITATION. 

In this process the liquid is treated with a previously determined 
quantity of some chemical which will cause a reaction involving the 
production of a solid in the form of grains or flakes. As the precipi¬ 
tant has a specific gravity greater than water, it falls-and drags down 
with it other solids. The rapidity of its action depends on the proper 
proportioning and mixing of the agents employed and on the weight 
of the particles and their size. A flocculent, heavy precipitate rap¬ 
idly carries down with it a large proportion of the organic and inor¬ 
ganic matter that has been held in suspension. 

Such processes are usually continuous; the fluid to be treated and 
the reagent are automatically mixed and fed in at the bottom of the 
tank, the current being upward. The purified liquid is taken from 
the top of the tank and the precipitated sludge is drawn from the 
bottom. -Certain limitations have been found in the successful oper¬ 
ation of the upward-flow principle. Hans Benedikt, in Die Abwasser 
der Fabriker (Trade Waste), states that the normal downward velocity 
of suspended matter in still water must be at least 2 millimeters per 
minute. He also says: 

If it be desired to perfectly clarify by deposition, on the upward continuous flow 
principle, water which is naturally charged with suspended matter, or by the addi¬ 
tion of precipitants, a transverse section of more than 0.002 X 60 = 8.33 square 
meters is required to obtain 1 cubic meter per hour of clear water, in order that 
the upward velocity of the water may be less than the downward velocity of the 
particles. 

The chemicals most frequently employed in water purification are 
alum, sulphate of iron, lime, copperas, and combinations of these. It 
is very important that the proportion of coagulant be always correct, 
else either the action is not completed or unnecessary waste results 
from overcharging. 


SACKETT.J 


METHODS OF PURIFICATION. 


21 


Coagulants Used. 

The series of investigations was begun by using small quantities of 
waste liquor—from 50 to 100 cubic centimeters—and trying the effects 
of various chemicals in different quantities. 

ALUM. 

The effect of alum was rapid, showing that it is a very satisfactory 
coagulant. The liquid was left slightly turbid and with some odor. 
The hardness was not affected. The chemical action was as follows: 

3Ca0 2 H 2 +Al 2 (S0 4 ) 3 +K 2 S0 4 +24H 2 0=3CaS0 4 +Al 2 0 6 H 6 +K 2 S0 4 +24H 2 0. 

The quantity of alum is to the quantity of calcium oxide'as 948 is 
to 168. About 112,000 pounds of alum is needed daily to treat waste 
water containing 19,800 pounds of lime and straw. 

The usual process for producing alum, or sulphate of alumina, is to 
treat the mineral bauxite with sulphuric acid. In England some mills 
have found it very cheap to make the necessary quantity in their own 
plant. The resulting cake, according to Naylor in Trade Waste, page 
21, is 36 per cent sulphate. The cost is $4.70 per short ton of prod¬ 
uct or $13.40 per ton of pure sulphate. 

In the United States, on account of the excessive cost of bauxite 
and sulphuric acid, commercial sulphate 57 per cent pure will cost 
about $16 per ton delivered, or $28 per ton of pure sulphate delivered. 
The daily expense for 56 tons would be $1,568. This cost of partial 
purification, omitting other items, would absolutely prevent the opera¬ 
tion of any mill consuming 50 tons of straw a day. 

Not onl} r is the expense objectionable, but the quantity of lime in 
the water, making the water permanently hard, must be reduced, else 
the process is not satisfactory. 

SULPHATE OF IRON. 

Ferrous sulphate is used in water-purifying processes, giving a 
dark-brown precipitate. The action is rapid and the clarification sat¬ 
isfactory. The use of one atom of iron for each molecule of calcium 
oxide present in the water produces the following reaction: 

Ca0 2 H 2 +FeS0 4 =CaS0 4 f Fe0 2 H 2 . 

When the proper amount of ferrous sulphate is added to 100 cubic 
centimeters of strawboard liquor the precipitation is almost instanta¬ 
neous, and in five minutes the solid portion lies at the bottom in a 
brownish cake. The liquid above is very clear, having only a slight 
greenish tinge. 

Since a daily output of 19,800 pounds of lime is assumed as a work¬ 
ing basis, in order to make the comparison of cost apply to a particu¬ 
lar mill 19,800 pounds of iron would be needed and 34,700 pounds of 
sulphuric acid. 


22 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[no. 113. 


The proper process would be to treat scrap iron with sulphuric acid 
in a reservoir. The expense would be— 


19,800 pounds iron, at $7.50 per ton of 2,000 pounds. $75 

34,700 pounds sulphuric acid (H 2 S0 4 ), at $12 per ton.208 

Cost of treatment.283 


The same objections apply to the use of sulphate of iron as to alum. 
The expense is too great, and lime remains in the form of CaS0 4 , 
which leaves the permanent hardness very high. 

Instead of using sulphate of iron as above produced, the crude sul¬ 
phate, copperas, a by-product of certain processes, can be employed. 
It is 25.9 per cent ferrous oxide and 28.7 per cent sulphur triox¬ 
ide (S0 3 ). Roughty, 4 tons of copperas, at $9 per ton delivered, 
would treat 1 ton of lime. For 19,800 pounds of lime nearly 40 tons 
of copperas would be required, at a cost of $360 daily. While this 
process would be more economical than the use of sulphate of iron, 
when all items of expense are figured, still the cost is excessive and 
the process impossible as a general treatment for all the waste from 
a strawboard mill. 

LIME. 

Lime is one of the most common coagulants used in clarifying drink¬ 
ing waters. The usual stream carries a small amount of carbon 
dioxide, which combines with from 5 to 10 grains of calcium oxide to 
form calcium carbonate, which precipitates in tine, white particles, 
dragging down such organic and inorganic solids as may be held in 
suspension. 

This process fails in treating strawboard refuse because the liquor 
is already many times overcharged with lime, by a part of which the 
little C0 2 that was in the water has been greedily used and the remain¬ 
ing lime is seeking more. The addition of milk of lime does not pro¬ 
duce perceptible action. 

CARBON DIOXIDE. 

The facts above mentioned led at once to the conclusion that carbon 
dioxide must be fed to the waste liquor. On applying the computed 
amount of C0 2 , it was found that but little precipitation actually 
occurred. The reason for this may be stated as follows: (1) CaO+ 
H 2 0=Ca0 2 H 2 , or the lime in the waste liquor is in the form of calcium 
hydroxide. (2) On applying C0 2 , Ca0 2 H 2 +C0 2 =CaC0 8 +H 2 0, pre¬ 
cipitation by C0 2 , occurs; but at the same time the lime is redissolved, 
as follows: (3) CaC0 3 -hH 2 0+C0 2 = H 2 Ca(C0 3 ) 2 , making a bicarbonate 
of lime. No precipitation has yet occurred. But if to the double car¬ 
bonate of lime we add milk .of lime the following action takes place: 
(4) H 2 Ca(C0 3 ) 2 +Ca0 2 H 2 = 2CaC0 3 -(-2H 2 0. Reprecipitation now takes 
place, carrying down the straw and calcium. The flakes are very large 
and the downward velocity is exceptionally rapid. In five minutes the 





sackbtt.] METHODS OF PURIFICATION. 23 

liquor has cleared at the top and in twenty minutes the process is 
completed. 

CARBON DIOXIDE AND MILK OF LIME. 

As above indicated, it is not sufficient to apply limewater or carbon 
dioxide alone, but upon first saturating the liquor with C0 2 and then 
supplying the proper amount of milk of lime the result is very satis¬ 
factory. It will be observed that not only is the straw removed, but 
the water comes out soft; that is, the calcium also is removed. None 
of the previous treatments will precipitate the lime. 

It is observed that the amount of C0 2 required for the previous 
reactions is two molecules per atom of calcium in the waste liquor. 

From (4) it appears that the amount of calcium added as milk of 
lime equals the amount present in the waste liquor. Assuming that 
the finished strawboard does not contain more lime than is in the river 
water used, there are needed 19,800 pounds of lime as precipitant. 

The following analyses, made by E. J. Macy under the direction of 
Prof. W. D. Collins, at Earlham College, will present the important 
facts in concrete form: 

Table 3.— Residue contained in strawboard waste liquor. 


[In grams per 100,000 cubic centimeters.] 



Raw liquor. 

After precipitation with 
C0 2 and milk of lime. 

Filtered af¬ 
ter settling 

1 hour. 

Filtered af¬ 
ter settling 
24 hours. 

Total residue__ _-.. 

Grams. 

293. 66 

134.63 

159. 03 

Grams. 

137. 59 

65.63 

71.50 

Grams. 

33. 325 

31. 250 

1.800 

Combustible residue...... 

Absolute residue _......... __......__ 



The absolute residue is a white powder, principally calcium oxide. 

The above results were obtained by treating 350 cubic centimeters 
in a tube seven-tenths of a meter high. This form was chosen in 
order to approximate the depth of tank which might be employed on 
a larger scale. The proportions of height to cross section were not 
those which would be used commercially, and hence the fall of par¬ 
ticles was hindered much more by friction against the sides of the 
vessel than they would have been in a larger container. After 
settling one hour, 53 per cent of the total solids are* removed and 55 
per cent of the absolute residue, principally lime. After settling 
twenty-four hours, 89 per cent of the total solids are removed and 98.8 
per cent of the absolute residue. 













24 


STRAW BOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


EXPERIMENT STATION. 

A light structure, 8 by 12 feet in plan and 14 feet high, with 
three stories or platforms, was erected on the grounds of Earlham 
College, Richmond. Ind.. for the treatment of strawboard waste in 

larger quantities. The filters were on 
the lower platform and were provided 
with sewer connection. Above the plat¬ 
form was the barrel in which the precipi- 
tants were added to a given quantity of 
liquor. On the upper platform was the 
limewater and a tank for generating gas 
under sufficient pressure to force it 
against a head of 3 feet of water. 

The gas tank consisted of a steel cylin¬ 
der with a screw top closing on a gasket. 
A valve connection was made at the 
upper end and a standpipe by which to 
add acid. The tank was charged with a 
quantity of limestone. Then the proper 
amount of hydrochloric acid was turned 
down on the limestone from a reservoir 
within the tank. The quantity of acid 
was made sufficient to generate and to 
deliver to the waste the required amount of C0 2 . A charge of 35 
gallons of waste as fresh as could be obtained was saturated with C0 2 , 
the gas being distributed through the waste by means of holes in a coil 
of half-inch gas pipe placed near the bottom of the 
tank. (See fig. 2.) The coil could be raised or 
lowered, and, as was expected, the best results were 
obtained with the gas distributor as low as possible. 

The limewater was discharged through perfo¬ 
rated pipes, shown in fig. 3, radiating from a central 
vertical main. The holes were arranged in such 
manner as to cause a swirl of the waste, which 
produced a very thorough mixture. 

The order of procedure was, first, to measure a 
certain amount of waste in the calibrated precipi¬ 
tation tank; second, to charge the gas generator, 
which delivered the proper amount of C0 2 in about 
ten minutes, and to appty the limewater—about 5 
gallons. The resulting action was immediate. A 
heavy cloud of large particles formed and began a 
descent which indicated a specific gravity much 
larger than unity. The surface began to clear at once, and after settling 
from five to thirty minutes the process of siphoning the clarified liquor 
onto the filter below was begun. 






Fig. 2.—Carbon-dioxide distributor. 








SACKETT.] 


EXPERIMENTS IN PURIFICATION. 


25 


The filters consisted of barrels filled with varying quantities of 
coarse gravel, fine gravel, and sand. These were operated at different 
rates, and the efficiencies were determined from analyses. Samples of 
the effluent and of the filtrate were taken from each barrel, and the 
results are recorded in table 4 (p. 27). These samples were taken when 
about one-half of the barrel had been treated. Five gallons of sludge 
were left in the bottom of the precipitation tank. This was a thick, 
sirup-like mass of dark-yellow straw, slightly whitened by the excess 
of lime that was sometimes present when a surplus of milk of lime 
was used. 

Two molecules of carbon dioxide are required for each molecule of 
lime present. The strawboard company reported that 2,000,000 gal¬ 
lons of water were used to carry away the 19,800 pounds of lime 
wasted. This is equivalent to 66 grains per gallon, or about 100 
parts per 100,000. The quantity of C0 2 needed was, presumably, 
200 parts per 100,000 of waste. 

An amount of lime should be added equal to that present in the 
waste, or the total lime thrown down should be about 200 parts per 
100,000. As shown in table 3 (p. 23), the absolute residue in one sample 
of untreated strawboard waste, taken at random, was 159.13 parts per 
100,000, showing an increase of 50 per cent in the proportion of lime. 
There is some variation in the quantity of lime used, depending on 
the quality of the straw, and a still greater range in the volume of 
water wasted. 

A standard treatment was decided upon, in which the proportions 
were 200 parts of C0 2 and 5 gallons of limewater (or about 150 parts 
of lime) to 100,000 parts of waste. The color of the solid matter 
thrown down showed that the precipitants were sometimes used in 
excess. 

DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENTS. 

SINGLE BARREL TESTS. 

Tests were first made by single barrels, in the manner and with the 
results shown below: 

Barrel No . 1. 

Thirty gallons of waste. 

Carbon dioxide equal to 200 parts per 100,000. 

Five gallons of limewater. 

Stirred and allowed to settle thirty-five minutes. 

Siphoned 30 gallons off in thirty minutes onto filter composed as 
follows: A barrel with 9 inches of very coarse gravel in the bottom; 
then 5 inches of gravel from one-fourth to 1 inch in diameter; next, 10 
inches of coarse sand, and finally, on top, 7 inches of fine washed sand. 


irr 113—05- 


26 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[no. 113. 


The area of the surface of the filter was 4.50 square feet, or about 
one nine thousand six hundred and eightieth part of an acre. 

The rate of filtration was about 13,000,000 gallons per acre daily, 
which was, of course, too fast to accomplish much. Both filtrate and 
effluent were colored, strong in taste, and smelled of lime. No samples 
were taken. 

Barrel No. 2. 

Thirty-five gallons of strawboard waste. 

Carbon dioxide. 

Five gallons of limewater (milky). 

Settled twenty minutes. 

Siphoned 30 gallons onto filter in 1 hour and 52 minutes. 

The precipitated matter, 4 inches deep, was light yellow. Free 
lime present. Sample after precipitation 50 per cent cleaner. 

The effluent was still clearer, with bitter taste and some odor, and 
was still yellow color. 

Filtration was at the rate of about 3,500,000 gallons per acre daily, 
which removed about 16 per cent of the lime that came to it (see 
sample 2, table 4). 

Barrel No. 3. 

Thirty-five gallons of strawboard waste. 

Carbon dioxide. 

Five gallons of limewater. 

Fourteen minutes to charge with gas. 

Settled six minutes. 

Time of filtration, two hours and twenty minutes. 

Rate of filtration, 2,780,000 gallons a day. 

Filter, 9 inches of coarse gravel in bottom, 2 inches'of tine gravel, 
16i inches of fine washed sand on top. 

The liquor from precipitation tank showed 244.18 parts per 100,000 
of lime. After filtration it showed 177.68 parts. Efficiency of filter 
equals 27.6 per cent. Color and taste noticeable. 

Barrel No. J±. 

Thirty-five gallons of strawboard waste. 

Carbon dioxide. 

Five gallons of limewater. 

Took seventeen minutes to charge with carbon dioxide. 

Settled six minutes. 

Time of filtration, three hours and forty-five minutes. 

Rate of filtration, 1,730,000 gallons per acre daily. 

Filter, 2 inches of very coarse gravel in bottom, 2 inches of gravel, 
then, on top, 22 inches of medium washed sand, which passed sieve of 
one-eighth inch mesh. 


9ACKETT.] 


EXPERIMENTS IN PURIFICATION. 


27 


It will be noticed in sample 4, table 4, that the effluent from the 
precipitation tank contained only 85.12 parts of lime per 100,000, or 
about one-third that found in the previous cases and about 53 per cent 
of the absolute residue in the untreated sample of table 3. It is certain 
that more than 50 per cent of the absolute residue was removed b}^ the 
process of precipitation. On the other hand, the filter apparent^ 
accomplished nothing. This result is probably due to lime which was 
carried over in the previous work and which was washed out of the 
filter with the present filtrate. 

Table 4.— Amounts of calcium , free ammonia , and albuminoid ammonia contained in 
effluent of slrawboard treated urith carbon dioxide and lime water in experiments at Earl- 
ham College , Indiana. 

[In parts per 100,000.] 



Sample No. 2. 

Sample No. 3. 

Sample No. 4. 


Before fil¬ 
tration. 

After filtra¬ 
tion. 

Before fil¬ 
tration. 

After fil¬ 
tration. 

Before fil¬ 
tration. 

After fil¬ 
tration. 

Calcium.. 

283. 024 

236. 868 



85. 12 

89. 78 

Free ammonia. 

1.675 

.7 

.835 

.8 

2. 50 

3.0 

Albuminoid ammonia. 

1.125 

1.336 

'1.0 

.7 

1.0 

1.15 


TEN-BARREL TEST. 

In order to approach commercial methods as closety as seemed pos¬ 
sible in a small experimental plant, a test of 10 barrels of strawboard 
waste was arranged to close the work. 

First. Three barrels of waste were run through the precipitation 
tank, filling it and two other barrels, which served as reservoirs. The 
milk of lime and C0 2 were fed continuously and in proportion to the 
rate at which the waste flowed. It was difficult to regulate the flow of 
the waste by valves, as the straw would choke them, thus varying the 
discharge. It was therefore necessary to make the rate of flow into 
the precipitation tank high. Automatic floats could not be used to 
properly proportion the waste and lime, as the volume discharged 
was too small to overcome the friction of such devices. 

The two reservoir barrels were allowed to stand twelve hours; then 
samples were taken from the top of each. The first barrel was 
siphoned onto a coke filter, consisting of a barrel with 2 feet of fine 
coke breeze, the top 6 inches of which consisted of particles one- 
fourth inch in diameter. 

The second barrel was siphoned onto a sand filter havipg 6 inches of 
fine gravel in the bottom and 24 inches of fine sand on top. The latter 
passed a sieve of one-eighth inch mesh. 

















28 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


The rate of filtration was 50 gallons in twelve hours. As the filters 
were approximately 0.0001 of an acre in area, the rate of filtration 
through the coke was 1,000,000 gallons per acre per twenty-four 
hours. The rate through the sand was half as rapid, or 500,000 
gallons per acre daily. 

Precipitation and settling in the first barrel removed 47 per cent, 
and in the second barrel 90 per cent, of the suspended matter. 1 he 
coke filter accomplished practically nothing. The sand filter removed 
25 per cent of the suspended matter reaching it, making the total 
removal by precipitation, twelve hours’ sedimentation, and sand filtra¬ 
tion, 92.6 per cent. The greater efficiency of the precipitation into the 
second barrel was due to a better adjustment of the proportions of 
lime and C0 2 to the waste. 

Second. Two reservoir barrels were again filled in order by the 
effluent from the precipitation tank. Each settled one hour. Then 
one filtered through the coke, the other through the sand, each at the 
rate of 50 gallons per twelve hours, or 1,000,000 gallons per acre daily. 
The efficiency of the precipitation and settling one hour was 20 per 
cent; of precipitation, settling one hour, and sand filtration, 90 per 
cent. 

Third. In another and similar case the efficiency of precipitation and 
settling thirty minutes was 75 per cent; of precipitation, settling thirty 
minutes, and sand filtration, at the rate of 50 gallons in six hours, or 
2,000,000 gallons per acre daily, 80 per cent. 

Fourth. Similarly the efficiency of precipitation and settling fifteen 
minutes was 80 per cent, while the addition of sand filtration at the 
rate of 4,000,000 gallons per acre daily removed 86 per cent of the 
suspended matter. 

Fifth. In another case the efficiency of precipitation and settling 
twelve hours was 92 per cent; of precipitation and settling eighteen 
hours, 86 per cent. 

Sixth. The precipitation tank was run continuously, and two sam¬ 
ples taken from the top showed 47 per cent, and fifteen minutes later 
60 per cent, of the suspended matter removed. The gas bubbled up 
throughout the entire cross section of the precipitation tank. This 
constant ebullition prevented the suspended matter from settling as it 
should and as it would in a tank described later, in which the ebulli¬ 
tion is confined to the delivery pipe, in which the flow is downward to 
the bottom of the precipitation tank. 

Seventh. The waste and milk of lime were delivered at the bottom 
of the precipitation tank, where the gas was added, at the rate of 100 
gallons in twelve hours. The effluent taken from the top was deliv¬ 
ered into the bottom of a reservoir barrel. From the top of it ran 
two siphons—one to the coke and one to the sand filter—each discharg¬ 
ing at the rate of 50 gallons per twenty-four hours, or 500,000 gallons 


SACKETT.] 


DISCUSSION OF EXPERIMENTS. 


29 


per acre daily. The precipitation removed 36 per cent of the sus¬ 
pended matter, and the coketilter removed 42 per cent of the remainder. 
At the same time the sand filter removed 66 per cent. The total 
efficiency with the sand filter was 79 per cent. 

Eighth. The sludge drawn from the bottom of the precipitation bar¬ 
rel showed 9,884 parts per 100,000 of suspended matter, or 40 times 
that in the untreated waste. 

DISCUSSION OF TESTS. 


The above efficiencies are all figured on the basis of a single sample 
of untreated waste which contained 238.9 parts per 100,000 of sus¬ 
pended matter. To have taken a sample from each barrel would have 
increased the number of analyses by ten, and would not have effected 
the results materially. As it was, 21 analyses were made. Different 
barrels differ in the quantity of suspended matter, of total solids, and 
of calcium present. The quantity of lime was sometimes too great, 
and at other times the quantity of C0 2 may not have been sufficient. 
These facts account for the discrepancies that arise. The average 
efficiency of precipitation in removing suspended matter from 10 cases 
was 63 per cent. The average efficiency of precipitation, settling for 
various periods, and sand filtration was over 85 per cent. 


Table 5. —Analysis of sample of untreated waste from fourth barrel. 
[In parts per 100,000.] 


Suspended matter: 

Organic residue. 149.8 

Inorganic residue.^.. 88. 8 


Total residue. 238.6 

Total solids: 

Organic residue. 362.5 

Inorganic residue...181.0 


Total residue. 543.5 

Calcium.. 160. 6 

Nitrates... None. 

Nitrites. None. 

Chlorine. 71.8 

Ammonia, free.74 

Ammonia, albuminoid.60 

Reaction, alkaline. 

Coloring, organic. 




















30 STRAWBOARD WASTE. [no. 113. 


Table 6. —Residue contained in suspended, matter in samples 2 to 21. 


Sample. 

Total resi¬ 
due. 

Organic 

residue. 

Inorganic 

residue. 

No 2 ... 

125.8 

57.2 

68.5 

No. 3 . 

128.7 

86.5 

42.1 

No. 4. 

23.5 

16.0 

7.4 

No. 5 . 

17.7 

11.0 

6.7 

No. 6 ... 

200.0 

133.7 

66.2 

No 7 . 

215.0 

160.3 

54.6 

No. 8 . 

62.0 

43.9 

17.9 

No. 9 . 

24.0 

14.0 

9.5 

No. 10 . 

60.5 

36.8 

23.5 

No. 11. 

48.0 

29.3 

18.6 

No. 12 . 

195.8 

123.5 

71.9 

No. 13 . 

33.8 

24.4 

9.3 

No. 14 . 

152.0 

105.3 

45.6 

No. 15. 

88.8 

61.0 

27.6 

No. 16 . 

50.0 

35.0 

14.9 

No. 17. 

126.5 

75.3 

51.1 

No. 18. 

89.5 

51.5 

37.9 

No. 19 . 

19.0 

12.5 

6.4 

No. 20 . 

33.6 

11.1 

12.3 

No. 21. 

9, 884. 0 

5,361. 6 

4,501.5 




Samples 2 and 4 were taken from the tops of the reservoir barrels. 
Samples 3 and 5 are of filtrates from the coke and sand filters, respec¬ 
tively, taken at the middle of each test. The barrel from which sam¬ 
ple No. 2 was taken was run through the coke filter. The barrel 
from which sample No. 3 was taken was filtered through sand. 

Reservoirs Nos. 1 and 2 were filled and permitted to settle one hour, 
after which samples Nos. 6 and 7 were taken from reservoirs 1 and 2, 
respectively. Reservoir No. 1 was then run through the coke filter 
and No. 2 through Ihe sand filter at the rate of 1,000,000 gallons per 
acre a day. Samples 8 and 9 are from the filtrates through the coke 
and sand, respectively. 

Reservoir No. 1 was filled and allowed to settle thirty minutes. 
Sample No. 10 was then taken from the top. It was siphoned onto 
the sand filter at the rate of 2,000,000 gallons every twenty-four hours. 
Sample 11 is from the filtrate. 

Reservoir No. 2 was filled and allowed to settle fifteen minutes. 
Sample 12 was collected as the liquor was siphoned from the top of 
reservoir No. 2 onto the sand filter, through which it passed at the 
rate of 4,000,000 gallons per acre daily. Sample 13 is from the filtrate. 




































SACKETT.] 


DISCUSSION OF EXPERIMENTS. 


31 


The precipitation tank was run continuously, discharging into reser¬ 
voir No. 1. From the top of the latter siphons led to the coke and 
sand filter. The rate of discharge from each was 50 gallons in twelve 
hours, or 1,000,000 gallons per acre daily. Sample 14 was taken from 
the top of the reservoir. Sample 15 was from the filtrate through 
the coke, and 16 from the filtrate through the sand. 

Sample IT was taken from the top of the precipitation tank during 
its operation, and sample 18 was collected fifteen minutes later. 

Sample 19 was obtained from the top of the precipitation tank after 
it had settled for a period of twelve hours. 

Sample 20 came from the top of the precipitation barrel after it had 
settled eighteen hours. 

Sample 21 is of sludge drawn from the bottom of the precipitation 
tank. 

The effect on solids in solution, especially on the calcium, was not 
so satisfactory, owing to the lack of sensitive apparatus by which to 
gauge the proper proportions of milk of lime. There was either an 
excess or a deficiency of lime, leaving an undesirable amount in the 
effluent. So long as the quantity of C0 2 is sufficient to saturate the 
liquor no variation in it is needed, but for the most successful opera¬ 
tion of the process the volume of lime should be automatically regu¬ 
lated by the rate of flow of waste. 

MIXING APPARATUS. 

English and American experience suggests that the waste, C0 2 , and 
milk of lime should be brought together during a downward flow, 
and that the precipitation should take place during a following slow, 
quiet, upward movement. 

The milk of lime may be proportioned to the w T aste by a float in the 
chamber leading to the waste weir. This float would vary the length 
of a weir of constant head which feeds the milk of lime to the waste. 
The mixture should then travel down a central shaft through a nest 
of tubes perforated on the lower side, from which C0 2 issues under 
about 2 feet of head. The treated waste now travels down the cen¬ 
tral shaft to the bottom of the tank, where the flow turns upward with 
a very low velocity. The less the upward velocity the greater the 
efficiency of precipitation. The effluent would be collected at the top 
in semicylindrical troughs. 

In the tests above reported 50 gallons were run through a tank of 
50 gallons capacity in one hour. The cross section of the barrel was 
649 square inches, making an upward velocity of 0.005 of an inch per 
second. To treat 1,000,000 gallons a day with the same upward veloc¬ 
ity would require a tank of 83,300 gallons capacity, or 25 feet square 
and 15 feet deep. In the tests made the C0 2 was distributed through¬ 
out the barrel, and the violent ebullition kept the precipitation from 


32 


STRAWBOARD WASTE. 


[NO. 113. 


being satisfactory, unless 15 to 30 minutes be given or the effluent be 
run into settling reservoirs. By confining the ebullition to a central 
small cylinder, where the downward flow takes place, the efficiency of 
the precipitation would certainly be increased. 

PRODUCTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE. 

The most important problem in the application of this method of 
purifying strawboard waste is the production of the required amount 
of carbon dioxide in an economical and practical manner. Two meth¬ 
ods of producing this may be considered. 

First method .—Carbon dioxide may be produced by burning lime 
in closed kilns, such as are used in the manufacture of beet sugar. In 
the typical factor} r which we have assumed, using 50 tons of straw a 
day, nearly 10 tons of lime are needed in the process of manufacture, 
and an additional 10 tons are required for purifying the waste. A 
closed kiln of 20 tons daily capacity, with rock hoist and gas pump, 
would cost $10,000. The operation would require 4,800 pounds of 
coke a day and the attendance of three men on each shift. Figuring 
interest, depreciation, labor, and coke, the daily cost of C0 2 produced 
would be $31.90. Neither profit nor loss is figured on the lime. 
Finally, the quantity of C0 2 would be only about 25 per cent of that 
required. To produce 80 tons of lime a day would necessitate a cor¬ 
respondingly great outlay and the production of 60 tons of lime for 
which a market must be found. Manifestly the method does not 
recommend itself, especially in comparison with the following one. 

Second method .—At the plant which has been cited, where 50 tons 
of straw are used each day, about 80 tons of Brazil (Ind.) bitumi¬ 
nous coal are burned every twenty-four hours. This coal contains 
about 70 per cent carbon. Consequently, 70 per cent of 80 tons, 
equaling 56 tons, or 112,000 pounds, of carbon are consumed each day. 
About 12 pounds of air per pound of carbon are necessary for com¬ 
bustion. In the average hand-fired furnace an excess of 50 per cent 
of air is supplied, making 18 pounds of air per pound of carbon. In 
the above case there would be 18 times 112,000, or 2,016,000, pounds 
of air needed. A series of 16 tests reported shows that the per cent of 
C0 2 in the chimney gases ranges from 8 to 19 per cent. Assuming 
10 per cent as a conservative amount, there would be 10 per cent of 
2,016,000, or 201,600, pounds of C0 2 available every twenty-four 
hours from the flue gases. The maximum amount of carbon dioxide 
needed in the precipitation is twice 19,800, which equals 39,600 pounds. 
Only 20 per cent of the chimney gases would be needed in the process 
of purification. Gas pumps capable of delivering 250,000 cubic feet 
per twenty-four hours, under the pressure of 2 feet of water, would 
be required. 


SACKETT.] 


DISCUSSION OF EXPERIMENTS. 


33 


The cost for gas pump and installation would be $2,500, with no 
additional attendance above the usual engine-room staff. Figuring 
cost on the same basis as before, it would amount to $1.35 per diem, 
as compared w T ith $31.90 in the previous case, a saving of $30.65 a day. 
The actual cost of producing the necessary lime and C0 2 would be the 
cost of 10 tons of lime at $5 per ton, or $50, plus $1.35 for pumping, 
making a total of $51.35 daily. 

The cost of installing a precipitating tank and mixing apparatus is 
so dependent on local conditions that no figures can be given unless 
the conditions be known. In almost all cases the design could be 
adapted fo the topograph}-, so that it would be unnecessary to pump 
either the waste, the effluent, or the sludge. 

While it is believed that under average conditions filters are not 
needed, if a higher degree of purification is required at times of very 
low stream flow than the normal operation of the precipitation tank 
provides, gravity filters could be employed. Under some conditions 
a second settling tank, or two precipitation tanks with a reduced rate 
of flow, might be the more economical. To operate a filter requires 
an available head of about 3 feet from the surface of the tank. To 
operate two tanks either in series or in parallel requires practically no 
additional head. 

TREATMENT OF SLUDGE. 

Would it pay to treat the sludge in order to recover the lime ? Take, 
for example, the 50-ton mill which wastes 19,800 pounds of lime daily. 
Assuming an efficiency of 75 per cent in the purification by precipita¬ 
tion alone, there would be present in the sludge 75 per cent of twice 
19,800, or 29,700, pounds of lime. Only about 85 per cent of this is 
recoverable, i. e., 26,700 pounds. 

No more economical method of drying the sludge is known than that 
employed in the manufacture of strawboard itself. Hence the cost 
may be considered the same. An official of a strawboard company 
states that the hot rolls receive the pulp from the wet end, press it 
while it is about 66 per cent water, and deliver it with about 10 per 
cent of moisture remaining. The cost of removing this 56 per cent 
of water present is the principal item in the expense of drying. Lhe 
company estimates that it requires 11 horsepower for twenty-four 
hours, or 261 horsepower hours, to dry 1 ton of board. If we 
take 30 pounds of steam as equivalent to 1 horsepower hour, then 
11 X 24 X 30, or 7,960, pounds of steam are required per ton of product. 
If 7 pounds of steam be generated per pound of coal burned, 1,274 
pounds of coal are consumed, which, at $3 per ton, makes the cost 
$1.91 per ton of product.- One-half the cake is straw and one-half 
carbonate of lime, hence the cost per ton of lime present is $3.82. 


34 


STKAWBOARD WASTE. 


[no. 113. 


After the sludge is dried to the consistency of strawboard it would 
still contain 10 per cent of moisture. To remove the remaining mois¬ 
ture and make the lime available as an oxide the cake must be burned 
in a limekiln fired with coke, in order that the calcium carbonate shall 
be reduced to the oxide, thus completing the cycle through which the 
lime has passed. The cost would be greater than that of burning 
limestone, because of the greater moisture present. In addition there 
would be a considerable quantity of the silica present in the ash of the 
straw. The ash is about 5 per cent of the weight of the original straw, 
and of this 73 per cent, according to Remsen, will be silica. The major 
part of the ash would be accumulated waste material unseparated from 
the lime. It would evidently cost more to recover the lime in the 
sludge than it is worth. 

The particles of straw are so fine that they will not work up into 
even a second-grade board. In fact, no use for this material has been 
discovered, hence its waste. The process of manufacture is so very 
wasteful, then, partly because present methods can not make this finer 
portion into salable stock. 

The question of making a separate product from the sludge was 
raised. This material contains lime and silica principally. Would it 
make boards similar to asbestos boards to serve as nonconductors to 
heat? Whether or not the material, pressed and bonded by cloth, 
would make a nonconducting article like felt has not been carefully 
considered. 

English patent No. 16966, issued August 6, 1898, covers a process 
of fireproofing wood or straw by treatment with carbonate of potash, 
boric acid, sulphate of magnesia, and sulphate of ammonia (see Jour. 
Soc. Chem. Ind., August 31, 1899, p. 763). The method would not 
be commercially applicable in this case in view of the ruling prices of 
felt and asbestos. At present it seems that the only rational way to 
dispose of the sludge is to run it out on the ground. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

1. Strawboard waste is an extremely stable substance.which does 
not degenerate when kept in clean containers, but when mixed with 
other substances of a putrescible nature, such as sewage and other 
organic matter in streams, it becomes very foul and objectionable. 

2. Simple sedimentation is not effective in the purification of straw- 
board waste. 

3. Chemical precipitation appears to be satisfactory from every 
standpoint except that of cost, which makes it commercially imprac¬ 
ticable. 

4. Filtration without previous sedimentation is impracticable, but 
combined with sedimentation is an aid to the process. 


8ACKETT.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. 


35 


5. The sulphates of iron and alumina are the most effective chemical 
precipitants for the purification of strawboard waste, but so large are 
the amounts which it is necessary to use that the cost is prohibitive. 

6. Lime is of no value as a precipitant. 

7. Carbon dioxide has no effect upon the suspended matter in 
strawboard waste. 

8. The combination of carbon dioxide and milk of lime is effective 
when properly applied, and the process can be economically maintained 
if conditions are favorable. The results of experiments indicate that 
75 per cent of the suspended material can be removed by precipitation 
with carbon dioxide and milk of lime at high speed of treatment. 
Higher efficiencies can be obtained at lower speed and by the combina¬ 
tion of sand filtration. It is believed, however, that the latter would 
be necessary only in extreme cases. 

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. 

The objection raised by the officials of the United Box Board and 
Paper Company to the purification process described in the preceding 
pages is based upon its cost. It is maintained that the different kinds 
of box board now upon the market are so evenly balanced in cost of 
production and competitive selling price that the additional expense 
incurred in manufacture, which would result from the adoption of 
this process, would drive strawboard from the market. Nevertheless, 
it is hoped that the experiments here recorded may stimulate interest 
in the question considered and aid in directing research that will lead 
to a satisfactory solution of the problem. 


DISPOSAL OF OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. 


By Isaiah Bowman. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Since 1886, a date which marks the beginning of the oil and gas 
industry in eastern Indiana, there has been more or less speculation 
concerning the pollution of wells and streams in the oil fields in so far 
as such pollution impairs the purity of drinking water or damages 
water for domestic and industrial uses. Within the last few years the 
matter has assumed a more serious aspect. Considerable litigation 
has resulted from attempts to collect compensation for damages to 
surface wells hy this form of contamination. 

In the following pages the manner in which such pollution occurs 
is shown, and a remedy is suggested for the conditions. The data pre¬ 
sented relate to the city of Marion, this city having been chosen as 
the place of inquiry because it is situated in the center of the oil 
fields of eastern Indiana and because many cases of well and stream 
pollution are known to exist there. 

Acknowledgments are due to Mr. E. Hulley, superintendent of the 
Marion waterworks, and Messrs. John E. Weigel and W. L. Benson, 
well drillers, for assistance rendered by them in preparing this paper. 

TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE OF THE REGION. 

The city of Marion is located on Mississinewa River. This stream 
is tributary to the Wabash and has a length of about 100 miles. 
The general course of the stream is northwestward, and the chan¬ 
nel lies just outside the Mississinewa moraine. Above Marion 
the river swings against the moraine, cutting steep bluffs into the 
clay; but near the Arcona bridge, between Eighteenth and Nine¬ 
teenth streets, it cuts into a gravel terrace formed outside the moraine 
by the stream when it was overloaded by material derived from the 
ice which then rested against the moraine. Just opposite Marion-on - 
the-River, and again near the Washington Street Bridge, the Missis¬ 
sinewa flows over rock. This greatly impedes the dissection of the 
till plain and terraces in which the river valley has elsewhere been 


36 




BOWMAN.] 


GEOLOGIC FEATURES OF THE REGION. 


37 


incised. The difference in the character of the material that the 
river must remove has resulted in alternate straight and meandering 
stretches. Each outcrop of rock in the channel is generally indicated 
by a marked sinuosity of the stream above it. 

Back of the river bluffs, which have an average height of about 50 
feet, the surface of the country to the southwest is extremely level, 
and drainage, especially on the fiat and wide divides, is sluggish and 
ineffective. Northeast of the river the Mississinewa moraine gives 
some relief to the surface, although that part of the moraine near 
Marion has an average height of not more than 20 or 30 feet. 

The valley bottom varies greatly in width. In places it is but little 
wider than the river, while in the vicinity of the pumping station it is 
from a half mile to a mile wide. The business part of the city and its 
more thickly settled portions lie on an old flood plain of the Missis¬ 
sinewa. The oil wells are scattered over the whole region, alike in 
valley bottom and in the country back of the river bluffs. Occasion¬ 
ally, where the bluffs have a gentle descent, oil wells may be found 
on them, as well as on the lower surfaces nearer the river, positions 
which have the advantage of rapid drainage, while the others have the 
association of stagnant pools of waste oil. 

GEOLOGIC FEATURES. 

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS. 

At the place where Sixth street ascends the river bluffs in the 
western part of the city there is a typical 30-foot section of the till 
plain. Beneath a covering of till about 10 feet thick is a layer of 
gravel, which in turn overlies a layer of iron-stained bowlders several 
feet thick. Below this is a promiscuous deposit of clay and gravel, 
underlain by cross-bedded and fine-textured sand. 

The upper covering of till is persistent throughout this region, 
varying in thickness from several inches to 15 feet. It is, of course, 
absent in the valleys where the river has undercut it. Where it is 
thin it is very porous, because of oxidation and the action of vegeta¬ 
tion, so that it offers no obstruction to the free passage of percolating 
water. Along the present stream channel and over the older flood 
plain that lies between the bluffs are scattered bowlders which the 
river has been able to undermine and dislodge from the bowlder bed 
previously mentioned, but which it is not able to carry downstream. 
In places the till is so free from pebbles that it is used in the manu¬ 
facture of brick. 

A number of well sections are given herewith, since they represent 
the character of the glacial deposits, an understanding of which is 
essential to an appreciation of the conditions of water contamination. 
The best well section procured in the vicinity of Marion was that 


38 


DISPOSAL OF OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. [™.113. 

obtained at the pumping station of the city waterworks. At the 
request of the writer samples of the borings were saved by Mr. E. 
Hulley, superintendent of the waterworks. The well was diilled in 
October, 1903. In studying the section it must be remembered that 
the pumping station is in the valley of the Mississinewa and that the 
bluff section given above must be added to the well section in order to 
get a fair notion of the character of the deposits fi;om the surface of 
the till plain to the rock. 

The samples were examined both microscopically and macroscopic- 
ally. A description of them follows: 

Section of well at city waterworks, Marion , Ind. 


Thickness 
of stratum 
in feet. 


Depth to 
bottom of 
stratum in 
feet. 


1. Fine sand and black loam (a peaty deposit in a part of the 

river channel now abandoned). 

2. Very fine, yellow, sharp, ferruginous sand. 

3. Coarse gray sand, the grains being rounded through water 

action. 

4. Fine gravel, made up mostly of erratic material and quartz sand. 

5. Pale reddish-brown clay with many stones and considerable 

gravel, also some iron concretions. The stones and pebbles 
were of chert, limestone, trap, shale, and quartzite. (Lime¬ 
stone, shale, and chert pebbles seem to have been derived 
from the underlying rock). 


3 
28 

15 

4 


54 


3 

31 

46 

50 


104 


6. Gray clay, very plastic when wet and containing no pebbles. 
This clay is remarkably pure and is distinct from the clay 
bed above it in containing no pebbles whatever in its middle 
portion, though it merges gradually into the pebbly clay above. 


7. Limestone (Niagara). The limestone is water bearing from the 
top to the last depth given and presumably beyond, but the 
best supply comes from a subporous and greatly fissured 
layer 38 feet below the rock surface ... 


This is a flowing well, the water rising (when the well is piped up) 
to a height of 18 feet above the surface. 

The following boring records were kindly furnished by Mr. John E. 
Weigel, of Marion, Ind. They show the character and depth of the 
material overlying the rock at the various places indicated by the 
corresponding numbers on the accompanying map (fig. 4). 

Material overlying rock at certain localities indicated by numbers on fig. 


Feet. 

1. Sand and gravel. 0-30 

2. Sand and gravel. 0-17 

3. Sand and gravel. 0-37 

“Blue” clay. 37-45 

4. Sand and gravel. 0-57 

“Blue” clay. 57-65 


























BOWMAN.] 


GEOLOGIC FEATURES OF THE REGION. 


39 


Feet. 

5. Gravel. 0-50 

Mixture of gravel, sand, and clay. 50-105 

G. Gravel and sand. 0-50 

Till as in No. 5. 50-60 

7. Rock in river bottom. 0 

8. Till, sand, and gravel. 0-100 

9. Sand and gravel. 0-32 

10. Sand and gravel.,. 0-60 

11. Gravel.‘... 0-40 

Till.:. 40-100 



12. Till, sand, and gravel. 

13. Till, sand, and gravel.-. 

14. Gravel. 

Till... 

15. Sand and gravel. 

Till.-.. 

16. Quicksand.-. 

Till (mostly gravel and some brown clay). 

17. Gravel, bearing salt water. 

Till. .* : 

18 and 19. (The samples previously referred to are from these two wells.) 


0-200 

0-200 

0-50 

50-105 

0-60 

60-198 

0-55 

55-200 

0-40 

40-177 
































































40 DISPOSAL OF OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. [no. 113. 

Feet. 

20. Sand and gravel. 0-40 

Till. 40-50 

Gravel. 50-70 

Clay. 70-169 

(This well was drilled 118 feet into limestone, making a total depth of 
287 feet, but no water was encountered, and the well was abandoned.) 

21. Sand and gravel. . 0-60 

. Till. 60-117 

Gravel. . 117-12/ 

Clay.-. 127-216 


While the last clay bed is extensive, it by no means covers the 
entire surface of the rock, for well sections frequently show glacial 
gravel and till all the way to rock. No bowlders are known to occur 
in it, and the deposit may be nonglacial. Gravel is said to underlie 
it in places, but none of the gravel was obtainable, and its nature is 
therefore uncertain. 

In the foregoing records no distinction was made between this clay 
bed and the pronouncedly glacial material overlying it, although an 
examination of the samples showed that such a distinction exists. 

The well sections show that there is an extensive area of rock sur¬ 
face not covered with clay, the entire section yielding only sand and 
gravel. It also appears that the upper layers of clay, or more prop¬ 
erly, of till, and the layers of gravel are in many places differen¬ 
tiated, while in others there is a more or less intimate mixture of 
these two materials. Such a mixture must not be regarded as imper¬ 
vious to water. There is undoubtedly a more or less free circulation 
of subsurface water throughout this entire mass of glacial material. 
This conclusion is warranted not only by a determination of the fre¬ 
quent high porosity of the till and its consequent permeability to 
water, but also by underground observations on percolating water. 
In assisting Mr. A. C. Veatch, of this Survey, in work done on Long 
Island, New York, during the summer of 1903, the writer had occasion, 
through the kindness of Mr. J. C. Meem, consulting engineer for the 
Borough Construction Company, to examine a sewer tunnel in course 
of construction between Sixty-fifth street and Fort Hamilton avenue, 
South Brooklyn. Different working faces were closely examined, and 
it was found that even in those places where the till was most clayey 
in composition the water at a depth of 90 feet from the surface had 
occupied the pores of the till in such manner and to such a degree 
that constant pumping was necessary to keep this part of the tunnel 
dry enough to permit work. The sand and gravel distributed through 
the till was sufficiently abundant to allow a constant flow of under¬ 
ground water. This fact must be regarded as important, inasmuch as 
a number of apparent^ anomalous cases of contamination no doubt 
depend for their explanation upon this quality of the till. 










BOWMAN.] 


GEOLOGIC FEATURES OF THE REGION. 


41 


HARD ROCK FORMATIONS. 

The hard rock formations with which this report is concerned are 
the Niagara limestone, the shales and limestones formerly known as 
the Hudson River limestone and Utica shale, and the upper Trenton 
limestone. 

NIAGARA LIMESTONE. 

Into the Niagara limestone pre-Glacial streams cut valleys several 
hundred feet deep. This depth was so great that the ice sheet was just 
able to cover the valleys and divides evenly with drift, and so enable 
the post-Glacial streams to take an initial course independent of the old 
rock valleys. The depths to rock at various places in Marion and in the 
region east of that city indicate that the pre-Glacial drainage was along 
a northeast-southwest line, almost at right angles to the general direc¬ 
tion of the course now taken by the Mississinewa. In some of the 
deeper parts of this old valley the limestone has been completely 
eroded and the shale beneath uncovered, while over a considerable 
area near the bottom of the valley the limestone is but a few feet thick. 
Toward the divides it becomes thicker, reaching a maximum thickness 
of about 350 feet at the quarries indicated on the map. 

The upper layers of limestone are weathered to a depth of 6 or 8 
feet, the result being the formation of a dirty yellow and partially 
oxidized clay. In most places this clay is porous, usually covering 
the rock to an insignificant depth. Most of this clay was removed 
during the advance of the ice. It occurs at the present time only in 
patches, which furnish all the evidence that is available concerning 
pre-Glacial conditions. 

The limestone lies in nearly horizontal layers. It is extensive^ fis¬ 
sured, the breaks being more numerous near the top of the section, 
presumably from pre-Glacial weathering, the weight of the once over- 
lying ice, and the extremes of temperature to which the rock was 
subjected and the water which it contained. This condition of the 
limestone permits surface water to have easy access to the rock for 
some depth, and rock-wells and springs (the latter where the rock out¬ 
crops in a favorable way) are therefore to be expected. Such springs 
exist in all the quarries, and the chief source of the city water supply 
is from wells drilled into the upper limestone rock. 

It is maintained by the writer that the water occurring in the upper 
limestone rock is not derived from some far distant source and trans¬ 
mitted through possible porous layers of limestone, but is essentially 
of local derivation and is supplied from rainfall percolating through 
the glacial deposits above. This conclusion is supported by the fol¬ 
lowing considerations: 

1. Water must enter the limestone where it is not covered with clay. 


42 


[NO. 113. 


DISPOSAL OF OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. 


2. Once in rock which is fissured and to a slight extent porous, the 
water must ultimately occupy even those parts of the rock that are cov¬ 
ered with clay. 

3. The greatest supply of water is found near the top, where the 
limestone is most highly fissured and where, therefore, the transmission 
of pressure is most quickly accomplished. 

4. The deep valleying which the limestone has suffered and the con¬ 
sequent relation of the superimposed clay beds to the shale and the 
eroded edges of the limestone prevent the wide distribution of perco¬ 
lating water through possible porous limestone layers. 

5. The rock is unevenly fissured. If there is any connection between 
the fissured condition and the supply from above, we should expect the 
greatest supply where the rock is most highly fissured; also a consider¬ 
able disparity in the depths of wells, even though such wells are within 
short distances of one another. Many examples of the latter condition 
are found among rock wells. 

6. The rock being unevenly fissured and of different degrees of 
porosity, a combination of unfavorable conditions may result and no 
water may be procurable from the rock in some places. Such condi¬ 
tions have been known to occur, although the number of cases is rare. 
One of the most notable occurred in November, 1903, when a boring 
was made for water by the city waterworks company. On the map 
the well is indicated by the number 22. The following material was 
encountered: 


Section of dry boring at Marion , Ind. 

(1) Sand and gravel. 

(2) Mixed gravel and clay. 

(3) Limestone (Niagara).... 

Note.—N o water was obtained and the holo was abandoned. 


Feet. 

0-50 

50-169 

169-287 


7. So far as the writer has been able to determine, there are no suc¬ 
cessful wells in the limestone at any depth where the limestone comes 
very near to the surface, while in the valleys the wells in the rock are 
scarcely ever unsuccessful and they nearly always flow. 


HUDSON RIVER LIMESTONE AND UTICA SHALE. 

This group occurs about 365 feet below the surface and is about 560 
feet thick, the Trenton limestone beginning at about 925 feet. The 
shales are somewhat calcareous, and near the top and bottom of the 
series there are frequent intercalations of bluish thin-bedded lime¬ 
stones. The formation is not water bearing except near the bottom, 
where water, saline in quality, sometimes occurs. 


TRENTON LIMESTONE. 

This limestone is dull gray in color, except where it is most calcitic, 
and there it is nearly white. Oil occurs near the top of the forma- 





BOWMAN.] 


SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION. 


43 


tion, where the rock is extremely porous. Beneath the oil is saltwater, 
which is pumped out with the crude oil in large quantities. If pump¬ 
ing is continued irregularly the oil well may be permanently injured 
by the inflow of salt water. In the earlier days of oil wells the driller 
frequently drilled to too great a depth and the inflow of brine was so 
strong that the well became useless. In order to form a reservoir for 
the collection of oil the limestone must be entered some distance, and 
the most successful wells are those which are drilled deep enough to 
allow a large amount of oil to collect and still be some distance above 
the upper level of the brine. The oil wells are usually about 1,050 
feet deep, the oil rising to within 600 or 700 feet of the surface. 

SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION. 

Scarcely a week passes but the boring of an oil well near Marion is 
completed and the well is “shot” with nitroglycerine. The shooting, 
no doubt, breaks up the porous Trenton limestone and forms fissures 
and small caverns, which act as reservoirs into which the oil will flow 
if this substance occupies the pores of the rock at that place. The 
surface effect of the shooting is the violent ejection of salt water and 
oil, often to the estimated amount of thousands of gallons. The oil 
and salt water sink into the soil, where it is sufficiently porous, and 
finally reach the surface zone of underground flow, where they par¬ 
take of the general movement of the water toward the main line of 
underground drainage. 

Wells reaching this saturated zone and lying between the oil well 
and this line of drainage, or thalweg, become polluted. This takes 
place even though the amount of oil contributed during a week or a 
month should be small; for the oil, being lighter than the water and 
having greater viscosity, is subject to less favorable conditions of 
lateral flow, and the ratio of the amount of it in the well to the height 
of the vertical water column of which it forms a part tends to be 
greater than the ratio expressing a normal condition elsewhere in the 
saturated zone. 

By a similar process of reasoning we are led to believe that the 
brine, but not the oil, should pollute wells which derive water from 
deeper zones of flow or from the bottom of the surface zone. This 
will be true especially where depressions occur in the clay of the 
drift, or along the main line of underground drainage. This con¬ 
clusion seems to be supported, in part at least, by the records given 
elsewhere in this paper, its final justification depending on its accord¬ 
ance with a larger amount of data. The slope of the ground being 
usually indicative of the direction of flow of underground water, an 
examination of the surface slopes with reference to a near-by water 
well should indicate whether or not pollution may arise in a given 
locality through the circumstances attending the sinking and working 


44 DISPOSAL OF OTL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. [no. 113. 

of an oil well. In sinking water wells, depressions in the drift should 
be avoided, as well as the deeper parts of the valley. As will appear 
more clearly later in this discussion, however, the burden of responsi¬ 
bility for contamination rests not on the owners of water wells but 
on the owners of oil wells, for the latter are usually in the field 
later than the former and locate their wells often with no regard to 
the rights of others and in contempt of well-established theories of 
contamination. 

If the contamination of wells were due alone to the oil and salt 
water which is thrown out at the shooting of a well the number, of 
cases of pollution might be much smaller than it is now, for a great 
deal of the liquid thrown out runs off quickly into the creeks, and only 
a part of it, except where the surface is level or the ground porous, 
sinks into the soil. There is another and more prolific source of con¬ 
tamination. The brine and oil pumped from an oil well are delivered 
to a tank having a capacity of 100 barrels or more. Near the bottom 
of the tank a pipe leads up at an angle with the side, and it is through 
this pipe that the salt water is allowed to escape. (See PI. IV.) A 
little below the level of the top of the liquid in the tank another pipe 
leads off. It is through this one that the oil is conducted. The adjust¬ 
ment of these two pipes is made with reference to the capacity of the 
well, so that but little waste of oil occurs from this source. Some, 
however, does find its way out of the pipe intended to convey onty salt 
water, and this oil, together with that which is derived from various 
leaks in the tank and from pumping, result in a constant flow of brine 
and oil from the well and tank. In many cases the owners of these 
wells pay no attention to the disposition of this refuse, but allow it to 
lie in pools or to run slowly over the adjoining fields. Some of it 
finds its way into the creeks and so into the river, while still another 
part sinks slowly into the ground. In some cases the attention of 
owners has been called to the danger of pollution, but only a few of 
them take the precaution to construct a ditch from the well to the 
nearest ravine or creek. 

It is instructive in this connection to note the manner in which pipes 
are inserted into the bore holes in rock and the danger of pollution 
resulting from this method. An 8-inch pipe, called a drivepipe, is 
driven down through the various materials above the rock as rapidly 
as the material at the bottom of the pipe can be removed by means of 
a sand bucket, and is then forced into the upper limestone to a distance 
of from 5 to 15 feet. With the largest drill that will work in the casing 
the hole is continued down through the upper limestone as far as the 
shale overlying the Trenton limestone. Here the size of the bit is 
reduced, and, after the hole is drilled some distance into the shale, the 
hole is cased with a 5f-inch pipe. The shale itself contains no water, 
except very small amounts near its base, but the limestone overlying 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 113 PL. IV 












































































BOWMAN.] 


SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION. 


45 


it is saturated. It is the effort of the driller to so tightly fit the casing 
into the shale that no water from the overlying limestone can follow 
down the pipe to its open lower end. Such a passage along the pipe 
would either allow the oil to escape upward, or the surficial waters, 
with sand, clay, etc., to pass downward into the oil, according to the 
direction of circulation. 

The space between the casing and the sides of the hole in the lime¬ 
stone permits such oil and brine as have passed downward through the 
soil to have easy access to the waters in the limestone. This takes 
place oftenest where the limestone is near the surface and where the 
material above it consists wholly of sand and gravel. The water in 
this loose material will tend to move nearly vertically downward, but 
contamination will occur with almost equal certainty where the direc¬ 
tion of movement has a strong horizontal component, the wells being 
so numerous and crowded that the refuse from one readily contami¬ 
nates the water in the rock adjacent to others. In the vicinity of the 
Thirty-eighth Street Bridge the water table stands from 30 to 35 feet 
below the surface, showing that the movement of whatever additions 
it may be receiving by downward percolation from the surface must be 
nearly vertical, as evidences of lateral movement, as expressed by any 
rise of the water table, are absent. The water level in the rock at this 
and similar places seems to supply additional proof of the local sources 
of the water. The flowing wells in the valley are at least 50 or 60 feet 
lower than those about Thirty-eighth Street Bridge, and the height to 
which the water will rise in the strongest of the flowing wells seems to 
be always somewhat less than the height of the water level in adjacent 
areas. Precise levels run to the various wells would furnish data of 
great value in settling questionable points of this natuie. 

Where artesian effect is pronounced pollution from the source undei 
consideration may not be accomplished as readily, though it seems that 
in time the inflow of salt water near the head would contaminate most 
of the water in the rock. The likelihood of such an occurrence is 
being strengthened continually because of the constantly increasing 
number of oil wells. The water from many rock wells shows at the 
present time an extremely high percentage of chlorine, and it is quite 
possible that it is now derived from that source, though, because ot 
the relatively small amount delivered, diffusion does not allow the 
result to be so noticeable as it may in time become when the supply is 
increased. 

It has been shown before that a differentiation of the refuse from an 
oil well may be expected to take place, the oil remaining undiffused 
and comparatively near the surface, while the salt water sinks down 
until diffusion destroys the disparity existing between the specific 
gravities of the brine and the water derived from rainfall. There is, 
therefore, more danger arising from the complete contamination ot 


46 


DISPOSAL OF OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. 


[NO. 113. 


wells near the surface by means of oil than in the case of deeper 
wells from brine. This is true especially where the water table is 
lowered through excessive pumping. Any oil near the surface will 
be induced to assume lower and lower levels until, as pumping increases, 
it is drawn into the pipe. The example of this occurrence quoted below 
is all the more interesting when it is known that the above deduction 
was reached before examples of this sort of thing were known. 

“On December 1,” writes Mr. Hulley, “the water wells [24 on the 
map] of the Indiana Brewing Association, at Marion, began pumping 
oil. They are 160 feet deep and in gravel. They are flowing wells, 
but the flow not being sufficient, pumping by means of air lift is 
resorted to. When the amount of oil in the water becomes too great 
the pumps are stopped, and after standing for some time, so that the 
wells begin to flow, oil ceases to occur in the water. When pumping 
is resumed no oil is noticeable until the water level is lowered consider¬ 
ably through pumping.” Mr. Hulley says further that the oil is with¬ 
out odor, showing that it has been purified b}^ passing through sand 
and gravel and that it has evidently gotten into the ground from some 
distant source, as there are no oil wells near by. . 

There are thus seen to be two chief sources of danger of contamina¬ 
tion. Oil and brine may escape between the casing and the shale and, 
rising to the porous or fissured layers of limestone, may contaminate 
the water therein, or they may sink down through the soil from stag¬ 
nant pools of refuse at the surface. The danger arising from the 
former source seems to be very small, for, considering the height to 
which the oil will naturally rise and the fact that the oil wells are fre¬ 
quently not pumped for a day or two, the return of the oil from the 
outside of the casing into the well would be accompanied by an inflow 
of sand which would be destructive to the well. This is probably but 
seldom the case. Where wells have been sand choked it has not as 
yet been definitely proved whether the source of the sand was from 
above or below, the difficulty being that in both cases it would be 
derived from limestone. Until this danger has been proved to be 
actual no regulation by law will or should be attempted. 

Regarding the latter source of danger, from water seeping through 
the soil from above, there is pretty conclusive proof. Moreover, the 
evil effects of the condition are so widespread and the remedy is so 
simple that the disposition of oil refuse should be made a subject of 
legislative enactment. In the country districts there is little need for 
vigilance beyond securing the quick removal of oil refuse to the nearest 
stream by means of ditches and the intelligent selection, with refer¬ 
ence to the probable movement of the underground water, of sites for 
oil wells. It is in the thickly settled parts of the State, in villages 
and cities where water wells are more numerous, and where they can 
not always be properly located, that the need for a remedy is most 


BOWMAN.] 


SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION. 


47 


urgent. The oil wells are, as a rule, yielding a lavish return to their 
owners, and there is no reason why these owners should not be com¬ 
pelled within proper limits to join in the construction of sewers which 
will convey oil refuse to the river. 

The streams in this region are all more or less polluted, the water- 
having an exceedingly unpleasant odor and a yellowish-white color. 
This is the color of the brine as it is pumped from the wells and is due 
to the presence of sulphur. From time to time public interest is 
aroused by the unsightly condition of the streams and there is much 
discussion in regard to the disposition of the water. In Marion the 
discussion centers about Boots Creek, for it is this creek which runs 
through the city and is thought to endanger health. At the present 
time there is under consideration the building of an aqueduct for the 
transportation of this water to the Mississinewa. 

Regarding the healthfulness of these streams, it is noteworthy that 
before the beginning of the oil and gas industry they were so sluggish 
that in the dry season, when they were a mere succession of pools, the 
stagnant condition of the water, aided by the addition of sewage and 
foul vegetable matter, resulted frequently in typhoid fever, while at 
the present time, owing to the steady contributions from oil and gas 
wells, there is active circulation of water throughout the entire year. 

Dr. W. A. Fankboner, of Marion, has this to say about the condi¬ 
tion of Boots Creek: “Its condition now is more healthful than before 
oil refuse was turned into it. To be sure, to some people the odor is 
unpleasant, but the stream is not overgrown with weeds and covered 
with slime, as it formerly was at certain times of the year; and the oil 
has made it unpleasant as a breeding place for mosquitoes.” He also 
says that there is no ground for the charge that more cases of typhoid 
fever have occurred along this creek than along other creeks but 
slightly polluted. 

The consideration of all the foregoing possibilities, together with 
the fact that the city of Marion depends for its water supply upon 
rock wells (the surface wells not supplying an adequate amount), 
makes the danger seem very grave. 

There are at least 75 oil wells in a few square miles of territory 
near Thirty-eighth Street Bridge, where clay does not overlie the 
rock. The amount of oil refuse that finds its way into the limestone 
is enormous, 200 or 300 surface and rock wells in this area, according 
to Mr. Weigel, suffering contamination, and unless this refuse is 
drained off into the river and not allowed to sink into the soil the 
gravest fears may be entertained for the continued purity of the city 
of Marion’s water supply. A number of these wells were visited and 
the water examined. Among them were those belonging to Doctor 
Snodgrass and Messrs. Vansky and Keene. The location of these 
three wells is indicated on the map by the number 23 (p. 39). In other 


48 DISPOSAL OF OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. [no. 113. 

places, where clay overlies the rock to some thickness, the present 
danger may not be so great, although ultimately, because of the 
nature of the source from which all the water in the upper limestone 
is derived, the water will become contaminated even at these places. 

With reference to this point, it has too long been the custom to 
make light of a situation that in a year or so may become very grave. 
Deeper sources of good water are unknown in this part of the State. 
The shale beneath the Niagara limestone yields practically no water, 
the little it does }deld being saline, while still deeper is the Trenton 
limestone, full of oil and brine. Neither can the water from the 
streams be utilized, the constant inflow of brine and oil from adjacent 
oil wells rendering this plan impossible. Here practically the single 
source of the water supply of 27,000 people is threatened, and } 7 et no 
adequate interest is aroused and no means are taken to prevent the 
danger. 

The plea has been made that it is a necessary evil. The recent epi¬ 
demic of typhoid fever at Butler, Pa., was due to just as 44 necessary” 
an evil, but that outbreak not only made the so-called necessity appear 
diminutive but made the neglect of such conditions seem criminal. 
It is not inferred that the same disease will follow the contamination 
of water through oil and brine, but it is inferred and emphasized that 
the discomfort and expense attending such contamination and the con¬ 
sequent lack of pure water may result in evils quite as great. 

It is not sufficient to begin a study of remedies after mischief has 
been done. If even the probability of pollution of city water is 
proved, prompt means should be taken to prevent such pollution. 


SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. 


By Marshall Ora Leighton. 


To carry oil-well wastes as directly as possible into running streams 
of water in accordance with the plan recommended in the preceding- 
pages for the relief of ground-water supplies from pollution by oil and 
brine involves the direct pollution of the streams to an extent even 
greater than they are now contaminated in the oil fields. The ques¬ 
tion immediate^ presented is whether it is better from an economic 
standpoint to preserve local ground waters at the expense of surface 
waters which in flowing downstream affect wide areas, or to conserve 
the interests of many riparian owners below and, so far as may be pos¬ 
sible, to retain these wastes in the immediate localities from which they 
are derived. It may be argued that any locality in which oil wells are 
developed has, by reason of that development, such extraordinary 
ecomonic advantages that it may well afford to suffer for any incidental 
loss which may arise from waste oil and brine. And is not the 
pecuniary advantage which follows the discovery of oil entirely com¬ 
pensatory for the loss of w T ater resources? On the other hand, if the 
polluting matter is turned into the streams it destroys the value of 
water to lower riparian owners, who at common law have a right to 
that water in its purest natural state. The result of such procedure 
would be to relieve the fortunate oil region from an unfavorable 
feature which it is amply able to bear—in other words, to enable 
it further to enrich itself at the expense of districts that are unaided 
by the presence of oil deposits. Yet with reference to the other side of 
the question, it may be said that if all possible precautions were taken to 
hold oil and brine waters within the oil regions there would still be a 
pollution of rivers nearly if not quite as complete as' would arise from 
carrying out the plan suggested by- Mr. Bowman. There is no doubt 
that where oil deposits are developed stream pollution is inevitable. 
The rain which falls upon the earth will carry with it oil and brine 
which it encounters on the earth’s surface. In addition to this, the 
percolating water will reach the lowest level, and whether this water 
be rain or oil and brine the streams will still be polluted. 


49 




50 DISPOSAL OP OIL-WELL WASTES AT MARION, IND. [no. 113. 

On the other hand, the people living in the oil regions must have 
sweet water for domestic purposes. This is a necessity which tran¬ 
scends all other economic demands. As shown in Mr. Bowman’s dis¬ 
cussion, the rivers in the Marion region are already unavailable as 
sources of pure water supply, and the only supply remaining is ground 
water. Therefore, as we can not save the stream and can save the 
ground water, there appears to be no question concerning the wisdom 
of accomplishing the latter end. Stream pollution in this case, as in 
certain others, is a part of the price paid for the accumulation of 
natural wealth. It can be considered an inevitable loss with equa¬ 
nimity, as it is only a temporary loss. Oil fields in time become ex¬ 
hausted and in due season the rivers will regain their pure condition. 
It would require an incomparably longer time to redeem an oil and 
brine besodden earth. 

All things considered, the recommendations set forth in the fore¬ 
going paper seem to be the wisest and most expedient that present 
themselves at the present time. 


INDEX 


Page. 


Alum, use of, in chemical precipitation.21,35 

American Strawboard Company, settling 

basins of. 16-17 

vat used by, for removal of suspended 

matter. 17-18 

Barley straw, composition of. 12 

Bauxite as source of alum. 21 

Benedikt, Hans, on downward velocity of 

suspended matter. 20 

Beveredge, James, composition of straws, 

given by. 12 

Brine and oil, pollution of water by, near 

Marion, Ind.43-50 

Carbon dioxide as a precipitant.22,35 

methods of producing.32-33 

Carbon dioxide and milk of lime as a precipi¬ 
tant of strawboard refuse-23,35 

Carbon-dioxide distributor, figure showing. 24 

Cellulose, chemical formula for. 11 

in straws, percentages of... 12 

Chemical precipitation as means of purifica¬ 
tion of water. 20-23,27-32,34 

Coagulants used in chemical precipitation . 21-23 
Copperas, use of, in chemical precipitation. 22 

Disposal of strawboard waste, experiments 

on. 18-35 

of strawboard waste, methods of.15-18 

Distributors, figures showing. 24 

Drying, process of, in making strawboard.. 14-15 
Esparto grass,use of, in making strawboard 11 
Experiment station at Earlham College for 

treating strawboard waste.24-25 

Experiments in treatment of strawboard 

waste.25-29 

Filter beds, plate showing. 16 

Filtering as means of disposal of strawboard 

waste. 16-17 

Filtration as means of purification of water. 19-20, 

34 

Fireproofing wood or straw, process of. 34 

Fish, destruction of, by strawboard waste. 16 
Geologic features of region about Marion, 

Ind. 37-43 

Great Britain, legislation by, against pollu¬ 
tion of rivers. 10 

Hudson River limestone near Marion, Ind., 

character of. 42 

Illinois, strawboard statistics (1900) for... 11 

Indiana, strawboard statistics (1900) for... 11 
Leighton, M. O., note by, on disposal of oil- 

well wastes.49-50 

Lime, ineffectiveness of, as chemical precipi¬ 
tant. 22,35 


Page. 

Marion, Ind., geologic features of region 

about.37^3 

pollution of water at, by oil and brine.. 43-50 

sketch map of. 39 

topography and drainage of region 

about.36-37 

Massachusetts, legislation by, against pol¬ 
lution of streams. 10 

Milk of lime and carbon dioxide as a precipi¬ 
tant of strawboard refuse.23,35 

Milk-of-lime distributor, figure showing_ 24 

Mine drainage, allowance of, by Pennsyl¬ 
vania courts.. 10 

Mississinewa River, Indiana, course and 

character of. 36-37 

Mixing apparatus for treating strawboard 

waste.31-32 

Moisture in straws, differences of. 12-13 

Muller,-, composition of straws given by. 11-12 

Newell, F. II., letter of transmittal by. 7 

Niagara limestone near Marion, Ind.41-42 

Oat straw, composition of. 12 

Ohio, strawboard statistics (1900) for. 11 

Oil and brine, pollution of wa ter by, near 

Marion, Ind.43-50 

Oil wells near Marion, Ind., boring and 

shooting of. 43 

Pasteboard. See Strawboard. 

Pleistocene deposits near Marion, Ind.37-40 

Polluted water, methods of purification of. 19-23 
Pollution of streams by sewage, remarks on 9 

of streams by trade waste. 10-11 

legislation against, by Great Britain 10 

by Massachusetts. 10 

sources and effects of. 9-11 

of water by brine, near Marion, Ind-43-50 

by oil near Marion, Ind.43-50 

Precipitation, chemical, as means of purifi¬ 
cation of water. 20-23,27-32,34 

Pulp washers, plate showing. 12 

Purification of polluted water, methods of.. 19-23 
Residue contained in strawboard-waste 

liquor. 23 

Rock formations, hard, near Marion, Ind... 41-43 

Rotaries, action in, nature of. 13 

steaming in, process of. 13-14 

Rotaries and stock piles, plate showing. 12 

Rye straw, composition of. 12 

Sections of wells at Marion, Ind. 38-40,42 

Sedimentation as means of purification of 

water. 19,34 

Settling and filtering as means of disposal of 

strawboard waste. 16-17 


51 





























































INDEX. 


52 


. Page. 

Settling basins, plate and figure showing.. 14, lf>, 17 


Sewage pollution, course of events leading to 9 

Sludge, strawboard, treatment of.33-34 

Steaming in rotaries, process of. 13-14 

Stock piles and rotaries, plate showing. 12 

Strawboard, manufacture of, description of. 11-15 
manufacture of, in United States, sta¬ 
tistics of. 11 

Strawboard mill, capacity of the average ... 14 

Strawboard rotaries, plate showing. 12 

Strawboard settling basin,, plan of, figure 

showing. 17 

Strawboard waste, analysis of treated and 

untreated. 18,29 

composition of, before and after passing 

from washers to vat. 18 

disposal of, experiments on. 18-35 

experiment station at Earlham College 

for treating.24-25 

experiments in treating. 25-29 

methods of disposal of. 15-18 

mixing apparatus for treating.31-32 

removal of, by vat. 17-18 

Strawbcard-waste liquor, residue contained 

in. 23 

Straws, commercial rating of. 12 


Page. 


Straws, composition of. 11-13 

moisture in, differences of. 12-13 

Sulphate of iron, use of, in chemical precipi¬ 
tation. 21-22,35 

Tank, receiving, with discharge pipes, plate 

showing. 44 

Till, permeability of, to water. 40 

Trade waste, pollution of streams by. 10-11 

Trenton limestone near Marion, Ind., char¬ 
acter of. 42-43 

near Marion, Ind., oil in. 43 

Utica shale near Marion, Ind., character of.. 42 
Washing, process of, in making strawboard. 14 

waste resulting from, volume of. 14 

Waste resulting from washing, volume of... 14 

Waste, industrial, classes and sources of_ 10 

Waste, strawboard. See Strawboard waste. 

Waste, trade, pollution of streams by. 10-11 

Water, pollution of, by oil and brine near 

Marion, Ind.43-50 

Water, ground, near Marion, Ind., source of 41-42 
Water, polluted, methods of purification of. 19-23 
Water supplies, pure, importance of, to 

municipalities. 9 

Wells, sections of, at Marion, Ind. 38-40,42 

Wheat straw, composition of. 12 


o 



































Reference. Series. Subject. 


LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS. 


[Mount each slip upon a separate card, placing the subject at the top of the 
second slip. The name of the series should not be repeated on the series 
card, but the additional numbers should be added, as received, to the 
first entry.] 


Sackett, Robert Lemuel. 

. . . The disposal of strawboard and oil-well wastes, 
by Robert Lemuel Sackett and Isaiah Bowman. Wash¬ 
ington, Gov’t print, off., 1905. 

52 p., 1 1. illus., IV pi. 23 cm . (U. S. Geological survey. Water- 

supply and irrigation paper no. 113.) 

Subject series: L, Quality of water, 8. 

1. Water, Pollution of. 2. Strawboard waste. 3. Oil-well waste, Bow¬ 
man, Isaiah. 


Sackett, Robert Lemuel. 

. . . The disposal of strawboard and oil-well wastes, 
by Robert Lemuel Sackett and Isaiah Bowman. Wash¬ 
ington, Gov’t print, off., 1905. 

52 p., 1 1. illus., IV pi. 23 cm . (U. S. Geological survey. Water- 

supply and irrigation paper no. 113.) 

Subject series: L, Quality of water, 8. 

1. Water, Pollution of. 2. Strawboard waste. 3. Oil-well waste, Bow¬ 
man, Isaiah. 


U. S. Geological survey. 

Water-supply and irrigation papers. 

no. 113. Sackett, R. L. The disposal of strawboard 
and oil-well wastes, by R. L. Sackett and I. 
Bowman. 1905. 


U. S. Dept, of the Interior. 

see also 

U. S. Geological survey. 


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